Blindfolded
by Pinky Lillix
Summary: A war with the Meekrob, an insane babysitting job,the death of a rabbit plushie, Grape Licky Sticks, and more. ZATR DibOC 1st in trilogy finished
1. Taffy Waffles with sprinkles

**A.N.** Here it is guys! The first installment to my Zim family trilogy! Me ish excited. . . takes place five years from 'A Chance for some Romancey' and 'Emotion Sickness'. . .and stuff! Yay! Ooo, I was reading 'Emotion Sickness' to my friend Rachael this past week, and there were so many typos, I wanted to cry. Only I didn't.

And Kacer has a biggish part in this story. Or bigger then the other stories she's appeared in, which is like, one. And she was mentioned in ACfsR. But now she's like. . . a semi-important character, but not really. This story is focused mainly on. . .well, just read it. . .

**Chapter One- Taffy Waffles (with sprinkles)  
**Tak lifts her head groggily from the pillow, blinks several times, then sits up. Although there are no windows or clocks in the room, she has the feeling she's not supposed to be up yet. Like it's too early in the morning or something.

_But with my luck,_ Tak thinks, slightly awake now, _I probably _overslept.

Even though she knows its not the most _considerate_ thing to do, she faces the opposite of her bed, and whispers, "Hey Zim. . . do you know what time it is?" although it does occur to her that there's little chance he would know.

She pokes him lightly and is surprised to discover that instead of Zim, she's only poking the bunched up bed sheets. She shifts the blanket for a few moments, then climbs out from the bed.

Although there are hundreds of labs Zim _could_ possibly be in, Tak's first instinct is to check the kitchen. And she's right.

The first thing she sees is the freezy box door is wide open.

"Midnight snack, Zim?" she says loudly, smirking slightly.

The freezy box door shuts, but instead of revealing Zim, there's only a little smeet, holding a few food items and almost collapsing under the weight of it.

"Clox?" says Tak, a little baffled. She rushes over and takes all but one of the itmes from the small child's arms. "Where's your father?"

Clox smiles, showing his fangs a little, and points to the table. Zim is sitting there, half-asleep. His head drops against the table surface and he closes his eyes.

"Zim!" Tak snaps. "Don't tell me you woke Clox up just to cook for you _again_."

Zim mumbles in reply, "Wasn't me. . .woke me up. . .said he wanted. . . to cook breakfast. . ."

Tak places the food items on the counter. She looks to the kitchen clock.

"It's 2:30 in the morning!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't know that," Zim says, almost inaudibly, lifting his head from the table, "we don't have a clock in our room, ya know."

Tak rolls her eyes and sighs, then turns to her son.

"Sweetie," she says, trying to conceal her frustration, "get back to bed."

"But-" Clox's eyes instantly begin to water, "I-I WANNA MAKE B-B-BREAKF'ST!"

"Oh, don't give me _that_, you-"

"Clox!" Zim suddenly snaps, having regained full consciousness. "Listen to her! Or you shall never make another breakfast again! _DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME_!"

As Clox begins to wail, Tak turns on Zim.

"Geez!" she shouts, "don't yell at him!"

"Well, he was protesting-"

"Don't yell at me! You'll wake up-"

"Wus goin' on?" asks a sleepy voice.

At the entrance of the kitchen, there's a small (though not smaller then Clox) Irken, rubbing her pink eyes and yawning.

Zim groans, and slams his head against the table, but no one else seems to notice.

"Nothing Pin," Tak says softly to the little Irken, "just go back to-"

"Ooo! Is Clox makin' breakfast!"

And now _Tak_ groans, as Pin rushes across the kitchen to her little brother, with an enormous grin.

"What're you makin'?" she asks, fully awake now.

Clox answers proudly, not a single trace of a tear on his face, "Sausage-taffy-marshmallow-waffles!"

"My favorite!"

"Okay guys," Tak says, "I'm serious, get back to-"

"Did you say 'sausage-taffy-marshmallow-waffles'?" Zim asks Clox, his antennas raised in alert. When Clox nods, he continues with a smile, "I love those!"

"I can make, um, I can make," Clox says, getting excited, "th-three batches, I think! On'y, on'y, uh. . . th-there's not so much taffy though, um. . .I-I think Gir a-ate most of it yestaday. . ."

"No worries!" Zim says, with a wave of his hand. "There is extra taffy stored underneath the mighty bed of ZIM!"

". . .There is?" Tak asks, confused.

But Zim doesn't answer; he just jumps in the toilet, as a way of getting under the base, and disappears from view. Tak glances from the toilet, to her children, who have energetically begun to prepare the meal, to the clock, and then she sighs in defeat. She sinks into a chair at the kitchen table, her chin resting against her palm, but after a moment, she looks up and says, "Hey Clox, could you maybe add some _sprinkles_ to those waffles. . .?"

"Yup Mom-ee! S-sure thing!"

* * *

_"What do you mean it's '_locked

_Zim's eye twitched in agitation as he answered, " I mean, that it won't open."_

_"Oh, come on Zim," Tak replied, sounding exasperated, "it is an _Earth_ door, isn't it? Surely, and 'amazing' Irken like you can manage to open it."_

_It was one of those rare occasions where Zim caught on to her sarcasm, because he narrowed his eyes and growled, "Are you making fun of me?"_

_Tak just sighed and pushed past Zim, to the door. She gave it a sharp turn with a rather smug look; but it didn't open._

_"Dammit!" she said. "It's locked!"_

_"Told you."_

_"Well. . ." she sunk down against the wall, "someone's bound to find us, right?"_

_"Skool's _over

_"The Janitor, idiot. It is his _closet_, is it not?"_

_Zim scowled and sunk against the wall opposite of Tak; although they weren't really that far apart. It was a rather tight space._

_After a few minutes of silence, Tak whispered, "Truth or dare?"_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"We're going to be here awhile. Truth or dare?"_

_"Neither."_

_"Oh, come ooon, Zim. . ."_

_"I refuse to take part in your pitiful games!"_

_"TRUTH OR DARE!"_

_Zim shrunk back a little, and muttered, ". . .uh, truth. . ."_

_"Okay. . ." Tak looked up, as if pondering something, "is it true. . .hm. This is hard." She paused for a moment, but then smiled teasingly, "What's your most humiliating memory from the Academy?"_

_"I don't wanna play."_

_"Zim. . ."_

_"Ask a new question. That one was not worthy of an answer."_

_"Fine. . .have you ever gotten drunk before?"_

_"What is 'drunk'?"_

_Tak just look exasperated, as she said, "OKAY. . .new question. . ." she paused again, and then, trying her hardest to keep a straight face, asked, "Do you love me, Zim?"_

_Zim jumped back in alarm, and said something to the extent of, "Wha-?"_

_Then he rushed to the door and began pulling on the doorknob._

_"Zim, what the hell are you-"_

_"IT'S SUFFOCATING IN HERE!" he shouted. "We have to get out!"_

_"Answer my question first."_

_Zim froze for a second, but didn't look at Tak. Then he said, "I want a dare."_

_"You can't switch, Zim-"_

_"Dare!"_

_"Fine! Geez. . .I dare you to answer my question!"_

_"I dun wanna play!" Zim whined, falling to his knees in defeat._

_"Geez, I was only kidding," Tak muttered. "New question. . ." (Zim looked dismayed) "Boxers or briefs?"_

_A short moment of silence passed and then, ". . .yes."_

_Tak looked up, confused._

_"To which one?" she asked._

_"No. . .'yes' to. . .your last question. . .thingy. . ."_

_A smile crept onto Tak's face. She grabbed Zim's forearm and said, "I dare you to kiss me."_

_"Isn't it my turn yet?"_

_"Zim. . ."_

* * *

There was a very brief period, around the first year of Jr.Hi Skool, when Zim and Tak were slightly taller then their classmates. But in less then a year, everyone else hit puberty, and -_bam_- they were tall. 

Now that Zim and Tak have started Hi Skool, their height's become a problem; or Zim's anyway. Tak was able to modify her disguise, so now she just looks like a short teenager. However, Zim's disguise is the same it's always been; so he looks like a lost child in the Hi Skool.

Which kinda bothers him. Especially when hyperactive freshman and sophomore girls rush over and squeeze him, shrieking various phrases such as, "OMG, this Zim kid's so tiny! He's adorable!" or "I love him, he's so cute!". This usually lasts until Zim passes out due to lack of air, or until Tak comes and shoos them away. The hyper girls only tried to squeeze Tak and her tinyness once- and Tak had reacted by trying to kill them (of course, this was last year when she was pregnant with Clox, so her mood swings were crazy). This ended in a week suspension for Tak, and a deep fear of short, blue-haired girls for the freshmen.

Another thing that bothers Zim is that, of all the filthy humans, _Dib_ is taller then him.

Besides his height, Dib hasn't changed a whole lot. Except he's a little more mature and quieter, and interested in girls (Kacer is his sort-of-girlfriend, which shocked a few classmates who were convinced he was gay). Also, he doesn't get so worked up over Zim's threats. he's finally come to realize that Zim's basically. . .well. . .harmless (although Dib does realize that competent Irkens are a problem).

He's eyeing Zim in vague curiosity right now though, because the teacher is giving a lecture on the vulnerabilities of Earth, yet Zim isn't lifting his head from the desk. Dib looks to the desk behind Zim, and sees Tak is in the same condition.

He grabs his notebook, tears out a page, and scribbles a quick note to Kacer, who's sitting behind him.

_Kacer, Go ask Tak what's up with her and Zim. Why they're all tired and crap. -Dib_

It takes a few minutes for Kacer to reply, because she has to write Tak a note first and all, but finally a paper football lands back on Dib's desk, and he unfolds it rather quickly.

_Dib,_ it says, _she says they were up making waffles. Love, Kacer_

And Dib, who doesn't realize that was a literal statement, widens his eyes in horror. He kinda wishes he hadn't asked.

"And so class," the teacher is saying, "that just _proves_ that the planet Earth completely _sucks_. . ."

At that moment, the bell rings and everyone rushes from the room, except a very tired Zim and Tak. They both just drag their feet, yawning and hanging their heads, and a rather perky Kacer jumps out, and shouts, "So, were the waffles good?" and then they basically keel over.

Tak is a bit more awake however, and she blinks at Kacer, then says, "Yes. They were delicious. Clox made them."

Kacer and Dib are basically the only two (besides Gaz) that know Clox and Pin are Zim and Tak's children ( to everyone else, they are just Tak's little cousins). Kacer has even, on rare occasions, babysat for them.

Dib's standing beside her now, still horrified, and says to Tak, "You. . .you let him do that. . .?"

"Sure. He's an excellent cook."

"Yeah Dib," Kacer says, "I've tried his waffles before. They're good."

Dib looks slightly crushed, still not comprehending that they are talking about actual waffles.

"Wh-what are you about Kacer? I thought you-"

"Dib-worm!" Zim shouts. Or whispers harshly. He is apparently too tired to raise his voice, and Dib glances down at him, eyebrows raised in mild interest.

"Yeah?" he says.

Zim pauses and realizes he has no prepared threat or insult, so he waves his hand as if to shoo him off and says, "Um. . .go away."

Dib just rolls his eyes.

"Let's go, Kacer," he says, and he takes hold of her elbow.

She nods, but first turns to Tak and Zim and says, "You guys have an anniversary coming up next week, right?"

The two glance up and blink, confused. They look to each other, a bit blankly, but after a moment, it dawns on them that Kacer's words are true. They nod slowly, and Kacer continues, "If you guys wanna go out and celebrate, I'd be happy to watch Pin and Clox..."

But she's being dragged down the hall by Dib, and before Zim and Tak can answer, she disappears from view. Leaving the two alone, no longer so tired.

"Five years, right?" Zim says, after a brief silence.

"Yup," Tak says. "Can't believe we survived that long."

But she's smiling, so Zim does too. He takes her hand and they leave the skool.

**End of chapter one. . .**

Next chapter. . . 'To Tail is to Stalk'. . .where you will read about:

- Zim giving his children a weird. . .pep talk, speech thingy...

- Gaz, throwing a phone at Dib's head!

- Zim and Tak, making out! In Zim's ship! (cough cough) Kinda. I dunno.

Random Crap: My brother got Squee! the other day! Squee's sooo kawaii! And so ish Pepito. . .in a. . .satanic kinda way. . .

For pics of Clox and Pin, go to Deviantart, my name is Pinkys1985 (once again, this site isn't allowing me to post an address). Then click on my pic 'Da Children, part 1'.


	2. To Tail is to Stalk

**A.N.** Thanks to **Computer-slave** (I already knew the Devart thing), **Rahh Gumba Foo** (XD yeah, that whole thing kinda came out of the blue. . .) **rarofdoom**, and **Raman Noodle** (XD love your new name) for reviewing.

****

**Chapter Two- To Tail is to Stalk**

"It'll only be for one week," Tak says, "two at most. When we're gone, Kacer's going to watch you, okay?"

"But. . .but uh," Clox says. He's sitting on his mother's lap, looking slightly crushed, "Why d-do you gotta, uh, gotta go away?"

"Daddy and I are taking a trip," Tak explains, "because sometimes when you're living with two insane children and two insane robots, it's nice to get out alone once in awhile."

Clox nods, as if he fully understands, and has accepted this information. Mimi, however, is glaring at Tak, as if to say, "I'm _not_ an insane robot." And Tak just sticks out her tongue in reply. Clox sees this and begins giggling madly.

"Stupid Mimi!" he says.

Tak whacks him (not hard) upside the head and says, "Be nice to her. She can blow out your brains, you know."

So Clox is silenced.

"Is Gir comin' ta Kacer's with us?" Pin asks from the corner of the room. She's leaning against Gir's back, who is staring at the television in a trance.

"No," Tak says, "I figured I'd do something _nice_ to the girl for once. . ."

Pin looks heartbroken. Huge tears well up in her eyes and then she begins to sob, "I dun _want_ you and Daddy to go!"

And Clox, who apparently feels a need to copy the moods of those around him, begins to sob as well.

Tak just has a deadpan expression, and when Zim enters the room, unknowing to the crisis of the crying children, she turns to him and says, emotionless, "Um. Help."

Zim observes the scene briefly in slight anxiety, but then stands up, straight and determined, and marches, in typical Zim-manner, over to Pin. He glances down at her and says sternly, "Pin. You want to be an invader one day, don't you?"

For a slight second, Pin looks up, her sobs quieting a bit, and then she hiccups, and nods.

"Well," Zim continues, trying very hard to keep the sterness in his voice consistent, "Invaders face any adversity with their heads held high! They do not dwell on their troubles! They destroy them! And they _definately_ DO NOT cry!"

Pin looks up in admiration and hope, as she sees her father getting quite fired up, whereas Tak just sighs, as a way of saying, "Oh, _here_ we go. . ."

Pin stands up straight, wipes her tears away harshly, then salutes.

"Yes sir!" she says.

Zim smiles triumphantly, then turns to his son.

"And you! Clox! You want to be a-! . . .uh. . .what is it you wanna be again?"

"A chef!" Clox says, happy once more.

"Really. . .? But. . .you would do so well as an _invader_. . .a chef is just _stupid_. . ."

Tears begin to form in Clox's eyes again, and Tak hisses warningly, "_Zim_. . ."

"Um, I mean," Zim continues, "A chef is. . .uh. . .anyway! If you cry, your tears will taint your meals! TAINT! Do you wish for that to happen!"

"N-no, sir!" Clox says, alert.

"Good!" Zim shouts. "No child of ZIM will cry over such a-!. . .what were you guys crying about anyway?"

"We're crying cause we're gonna miss you!" Pin says.

She and her brother run over and each hug one of his legs. Zim looks down at them in surprise, then up at Tak, and looks about to cry himself.

"I'm gonna miss 'em _too_," he chokes.

Tak just throws her head back in exasperation.

"Oh my _god_, Zim!"

"You guys'll miss Tak too, right?" Zim says, patting his kids a bit awkwardly on the head.

They both nod vigorously, then rush over to their mother and hug _her_, saying, "Yessum! We'll miss you a WHOLE lot, Mama!" She looks up to Zim now, only she _is_ crying, and she's glaring too.

"I will get you for this Zim," she growls, hugging her children back.

He just snickers in return.

"Time for bed," Tak says suddenly, pushing Pin and Clox away, and wiping her eyes, "now."

They nod, and jump down from the couch.

"G-g'night!" Clox sys, and he hugs Tak quickly, and runs into the kitchen, then disappears into the garbage can.

Zim stares after him, and says more to himself then anyone else, "He really wants to be a chef. . ."

"It's not that _surprising_," Tak says, "he's been cooking since he was three days old."

"It's all your fault!"

"How is it _my_ fault?"  
"_Your_ cooking_ poisoned_ him, he had no choice but to feed himself! He would've never found out he was _good_ at it if you never-"

"I did not poison him! He just got. . . a little _sick_ for a few hours."

"He was _dying_!"

"He was not!"

"Dun worry, Daddy." This came from Pin, who's tugging on the bottom of Zim's shirt. She has a proud grin. "I'm gonna be an _invader_, just like you!"

With the aid of her spider legs, she reaches up and kisses him on the cheek, then exits the room just as her brother did.

Zim looks a little shocked, but then he turns to Tak with a grin, and says, pointing in the direction Pin just left, "Now _she_ has promise."

"Oh, go to bed Zim."

"Only if you join me."

* * *

_"Do you want a soda or something?" Kacer asked._

_Tak shook her head sharply._

_"No," she said, "I feel like I'm gonna be sick."_

_But Kacer walked to the refridgerator anyway and took out a Poop cola can. She handed it to Tak._

_"Soda might help," she said._

_So Tak opened the lid and chugged the liquid down in nothing flat. Kacer seemed rather impressed, and she said, "So. . .are you okay?"_

_Tak looked as though she was going to choke on her drink. Instead, she just grimaced and said, ". . .Zim asked me to. . .join him. . ."_

_"Join him where?"  
"In union."_

_Kacer blinked, confused._

_"He asked me to marry him," Tak said, in terms Kacer was more familiar with._

_The young girl, having apparently overlooked Tak's distress over the whole ordeal, shrieked happily and clapped her hands together.  
"Oh my goodness!" she said, her eyes widening in excitment. "What did you say?"_

_". . .nothing."_

_"Nothing?" Kacer echoed, looking slightly dissapointed (and confused, but that wasn't new)._

_"I just _ran_. He asked me," Tak said, then sighed, "and I ran. It was so stupid. He didn't even build up to the moment or anything, he just randomly asked me, I don't even know how serious he was."_

_"When did this happen?"_

_"Like. . .ten minutes ago."_

_"Oh my."_

_"Yeah."_

_After a brief silence, Kacer asked, "So, what's your answer gonna be?"_

_"I don't _know_. I mean, sure, I lo-. . .like him _now_, but if we join, we'll basically be _stuck _together _for the rest of our lives_, and then that might interfere with things. I may never be able to take the Irken elite test, and just because I decided to be with Zim? I mean, it'd be nice between now and the test, but what about after? It might be like nothing ever happened, I'll just leave Earth, and we'll _forget_ about each other, and then if we ever reunite, we'll be enemies again, with my _stupid luck_-"_

_Tak appeared slightly hysterical at that point, and she just started to rambled, until Kacer asked softly, "Do you love him?" and then she froze. _

_After an awkward pause, she threw her arms in the air and said, "Dammit! Do you know we can hardly _tell_ each other how we feel! Yet he can ask me to _marry_ him without a second though, how screwed _up _is that!"_

_"Well," Kacer said thoughtfully, "maybe youd on't have to _tell_ each other all the time. You could just _show _each other."_

* * *

"We cannot thank you enough for your assistance. As soon as we find a way to repay you, we'll-"

"It's no problem. Just win the war, and we'll call it even."

"Dib? Who're you talking to?"

Dib faces away from his computer for a minute, and looks to the doorway, where a rather agitated Gaz is standing. Paying no mind to his sister's irritation, he smiles proudly and says, "Well Gaz, if you must know, I'm talking to-"

"Be quiet," Gaz snaps. "Your dumb girlfriend's on the phone."

She chucks the phone at Dib, and it ends up smacking into his head, which knocks him off the chair. As he climbs back up and grabs the phone, he turns to glare at Gaz, but she's already gone.

He sighs, then says into the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Dib, it's Kacer."

"Yeah. . ." he's looking at the computer in dissapointment, as he comes to realize his previous transmission's been cut, "What's up?"

"Tak and Zim left today."

"For good?"

"Nah. It's like. . . a honeymoon type thing or whatever. It should only last a week or something. They left me with their kids."

"For a week?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that."

"Um. . .if they start to get out of hand. . .could you maybe. . .come over and help me out?"

Dib pauses a moment, then says, "The last time I saw them, Clox bit me."

"Yeah well. . .Pin likes you, I think! You can take care of her! I'll handle Clox. . .I just. . .can't do this alone for a full week. . ."  
"Fine, fine, just tell me when you need help."

"Okay. . .um. . .Dib?"

"Yeah?"

"I kinda need help. . ."

* * *

Zim reclines as best as he can in the rather cramped voot cruiser. He yawns and says to Tak, "We're lost, aren't we?"

"No, we're not!" Tak snaps. She's hunched over the console, rather tensely, poking at various buttons and such. "We just should've taken my ship! It's far easier to pilot then this stupid thing!" She jabs one more button violently, then bangs her fist against the side of her seat in frustration.

Zim leans ahead and looks to the console in curiosty. Then his antennas shoot up in alarm and he says, "Have you been going _north_ this whole time?"

"Oh! _I don't know_!" Tak says, burying her face into her hands.

"Tak!" Zim says urgently. "Planet Spotch is _south_!"

"Then _you_ pilot! We've been traveling for _hours_, it's gonna take forever to get there!"

"Or. . ." Zim starts slowly.

"Or. . .?"

"Or," Zim says again, a sly grin creeping across his face, "we don't _have_ to go to Spotch. . ."

"Yeah?" Tak asks, forming an identical grin. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, we _could_. . ."

"_Yes_. . .?"

"Tail the Massive!"

"_Zim_! You've _got _to be _kidding_ me!"

"What? We don't get a chance to do something like that everyday!"

"Idiot. . " Tak mutters, shaking her head slightly, then she looks up and says in a clear voice, "Listen Zim. My plans for this trip just involve you and me, _spending time alone_. They do _not_ involve stalking the Tallest-"

"We wouldn't be stalking them! Just. . . following them. . ."

"Zim, you contact them _every stupid day_-"

"But they haven't seen me in _person_ for six years!"

"What makes you think they _want_ to see you _now_?"

Zim's bottom lip quivers for a slight second, and he looks offended; but he regains his composure rather quickly, and says, waving his hand around nonchalantly, "That's a _foolish_ question, Tak! The Tallest _love _it when I come to see them!"

"Zim, you are such a-"

"Such a?"

"Such a. . . dumb. . .person. . ."

"Dumb! You dare call your own _mate_ dumb!"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. . ." Tak just seems kinda bored now, and Zim continues to spaz .

"Well, you wanna know what _you_ are?" he shouts, pointing an accusatory finger at Tak. She just kinda yawns, and he continues, "You! You're. . . mean. . ."

"That hurt, Zim. Really."

"DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!"

Tak just snickers, and then before Zim can yell any further, she randomly jumps him. Which had been a playful move, but Zim thinks she's trying to kill him.  
"What on Irk are you doing!" he shouts. "That didn't _really_ hurt you, did it!"

And then Tak kisses him, and he kinda realizes she was only playing around. So he kisses her back, and this carries on for a little bit, until Zim ends up getting backed into the wall and slamming his head.

"Ow!" he cries out, lunging his head forward and (accidently) smacking against Tak's.

She falls back, and when she gets up, she's wincing and rubbing her head, and she says, "Well _that_ was a turn-on, Zim. . ."

"Sorry. . ." he mutters.

Tak just reaches over, and begins to rub the back of Zim's head. But then she looks up, and freezes.

"Zim," she says slowly, her eyes focused past the window, "You weren't planning to tail the Massive from the _start_, were you?"

"_Nooo_. . .what makes you say that?"

Tak just points out the window, glaring. Zim looks up, and some short distance away, is the Massive.

"Heh. Funny we didn't notice it before now," he says.

". . .I don't like you," Tak says.

**End of Chapter Two. . .**

Next chapter. . . 'The death of Pop-Pop Bunny'. . . which'll include:

-A Johnny the Homicidal Maniac reference

-Gir. . .only just in a flashback. . . but still!

-Joon (of course)

Random crap: I got this weird bug/spider/whatever bite right above my hip. . . tis very freakish. . .


	3. The Death of Pop pop Bunny

**A.N.** Thanks to **Missy Lynne** (Yeah, at times there relationship actually seems kinda dysfunctional XD but it's cute)and **invadercorren** for reviewing. You guys are awesome. Phwee.

**Chapter Three- The death of Pop-Pop Bunny**

Pin's lying on the kitchen floor, in a pool of blood, dead. Or that's what it looks like to Dib anyway.

As soon as he sees this, he jumps back in alarm, and turns on Kacer.

"YOU _KILLED _HER!" he shouts, thoroughly freaked.

"Geez Dib!" Kacer says. "How horrible do you think I am?. . .it's only ketchup. They're playing a game. Say 'hello' to Dib, Pin."

Pin raises an arm in the air for a slight second, but besides that, she does not move.

"_This _is why I had to come over to _help_?" Dib asks, having calmed down a bit. "To help you play a game?"

"Well. . ." Kacer bites her lip nervously, "they're playing '_catch-the-homicidal-maniac' _and _Clox_ is '_Johnny'_, so we're supposed to go find him."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Um. . .I can't."

"Find him?"

"Yeah."

"Sucks for you."

"_Dib!_"

Suddenly, a thump is heard above them, and Kacer exclaims, "That might be Clox! Dib, stay with Pin!" and she runs up the stairs.

Dib shakes his head, smirking in amusement, if nothing else. As he makes his way over to the kitchen table, Pin says, still unmoving, "Is she your girlfriend?"

Dib looks to her, a bit surprised at first, but then he shrugs.

"Kinda," he says, "I dunno."

"Oh. . ." she sounds a little sad, but her expression doesn't change.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. . ." she sighs softly. "I like you, Dib. . ."

And now Dib is caught between thinking, "How cute" and "Aw, crud", but deciding she'll probably forget this whole conversation by the time she's five, he smiles and says, "Yeah, I like you too."

"Really!" Pin lifts her head for a slight second, then drops it down quickly, having remembered she's still playing the game. But she has an enormous grin.

"Yeah. . .you're pretty cool," Dib says, "I mean, for the spawn of my worst enemy and all."

Pin giggles.

"Yeah," she says, "but my daddy's the greatest!"

"Uh. . . _sure_. . ."

Suddenly, a blood-curtling scream can be heard from upstairs, and Dib jumps up, grabs Pin (getting ketchup on his shirt) and calls out, "Kacer!" and rushes to the bottom of the stairs.

A moment of tense silence passes, then Dib decides to take a step forward; suddenly, Clox races down the banister, crashing into Pin, headfirst. Dib catches him before he lands on the ground, and surprisingly enough, the little Irken doesn't even seem fazed. In fact, he seems to be caught in a mad fit of giggles (although Pin is just the opposite).

"Nail BUNNY!" Clox shrieks happily, and kicks around, so Dib places him and his sister on the ground, then proceeds cautiously up the stairs. When he reaches the top, he sees Kacer huddled over in a dark corner, shaking in somewhat of a mental state.

". . .Kacer. . .?" he says slowly. "Are you okay. . .?"

"He. . .killed it. . ."

"Killed what?" He goes to place a hand on her shoulder, but then she turns around sharply, looking menacing.

"My bunny!" she cries. "Clox killed my bunny!"

Dib looks to Kacer's hands, which are holding a bunny indeed; however, where he expects to see blood, there is only stuffing.

"_God, Kacer!_" he yells. "It's only a stupid _plushie!_ I thought someone was _hurt_, don't ever do that-"

"It's not _stupid!_" Kacer cries. She grabs onto his pant leg desperately. "I've had this since I was three! _Three, _Dib! My _Pop-pop_ gave this to me!"

And as she carries on, clinging to his leg, and as Pin continues crying due to her previous head injury at the bottom of the stairs, and as Clox runs around in circles, chanting, "Nail bunny! Nail Bunny!", Dib sighs heavily.

"This is gonna be a _looong_ week," he mutters.

* * *

_Her head resting on Zim's lap, Tak said softly, "Well, a smeet wouldn't be so bad now, would it?"_

_"Maybe later," Zim said, stroking Tak's forehead, "when I've taken over this horrible planet, and am named the Greatest Invader Who Ever Lived. . ."_

_"Great," Tak said, sitting up, "do you think you can do that in nine months?"_

_Zim froze._

_"Why. . .?" he asked slowly._

_Tak smiled and made a gesture as if she were rocking a bundle back and forth in her arms._

_Zim looked at her incredulously, and said, stunned, "You. You. . .you're. . .?"_

_Tak nodded, beaming._

_"You ordered a smeet!" Zim shouted._

_"No, you moron! This one's inside of me." She pointed to her stomach._

_"C-can't you take it out?" Zim asked, on the verge of a meltdown._

_"Yeah, Zim. In nine months."_

_Zim just froze again, looking confused, dismayed and paniced all at once, but he said nothing more._

_"BABY!" this shriek came from Gir, who entered the living room rather energetically. He raced across to the couch, landing on Tak's lap. "Did you tell him yet!"_

_"Just did."_

_"WHEE! YOU HAPPY, ZIM!"_

_He was still frozen. Gir must of taken his silence as a 'yes', because he said, "Yeah, me too. . ."_

_Then he began to poke Tak's stomach rather vigorously._

_"You in there new baby!"_

_"Geez Gir!" Tak said, pushing the hyperactive robot away in alarm. "You're going to kill it before it's even born!"_

_"Gir!" Zim shouted, having snapped back into reality now. "Go away, you're making Tak nervous!"_

_Gir hung his head sadly, and got off the couch._

_"'Kay," he said, and he sniffed, "bye. . ."_

_Once he exited the living rooom, Tak rested her head on Zim's shoulder and said, "You're going to be one scary father."_

_"Well, my child won't be anything like Gir, so I won't need to be scary."_

Our _child."_

_"Heh, right. . ." he put his arm around her and said, "Don you think it'll be anything like me?"_

_"God forbid, Zim."_

* * *

"For the _last time_, the Tallest are _really_ busy. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THEM." 

"But _surely_ they can _make_ time! It is _me_, after all!" Zim says desperately.

Before the security guard has a chance to further deny Zim access to see the Tallest, Tak pushes Zim out of the way and says, "Listen. You'll have to excuse him, he's insane. We're actually here to see an old friend of mine, Joon-" Zim grunts, but Tak ignores him, "He works as a mechanic drone here. Do you know where we could find him?"

The security guard smiles and says, "He should be in the east wing, room 2,894," he points to his left, "that way."

Tak bows as a way of thanking him, then grabs Zim by the arm, and drags him down the hall. When the security guard is out of sight, Zim snaps his arm away, rather resentfully.

"You didn't say anything about seeing the Joon monkey!" Zim hisses.

"Well, we're already _here_," Tak says, "so we might as well."

"I _thought_ you said you wanted us to _spend time alone_."

"Well, _Zim_," Tak says sweetly, yet at the same time looking like she's going to bite his head off, "if _you_ can find it acceptable to pay the _Tallest_ a visit on our trip, I'm _sure_ you can handle seeing _Joon_. . ."

"Tak. . ."

"Don't complain. It won't take long. After that, we're getting _off_ the Massive and-"

"Tak?"

Tak and Zim turn around, bewildered, and then see, standing no more then ten feet away, Joon. Tak's face lights up, and she rushes over and hugs her childhood friend; Zim just crosses his arms , wearing a scowl.

"What are you guys _doing_ here?" asks Joon, perplexed, but happy. He pats Tak on the head, and she pulls away, smiling broadly.

"It's our little get away," Tal explains, "next week's our anniversary. So _this_ moron thought it'd be romantic enough to sneak in here and stalk our leaders. . ."

"I _don't_ stalk them!" Zim says, but the other two ignore him.

"Yeah, well," Joon is saying, "I doubt you'll see them. It's been kinda tough on the Tallest lately. . .they actually have _work_ to do now and all, so it's hard to contact them lately. . .and. . ."

"Why is that?" Tak asks.

"There've been a lot of rebellions," Joon explains, rubbing the back of his head, "like with planets already under our control. . .it was no big deal at first, cause they were so scattered, but now more and more people are banning together, so it's problem. . .and. . ."

"_And?_" Zim and Tak echo in unison.

"And," Joon says, "a war's been declared. . .between us and teh Meekrob."

Tak takes in a sharp breath then says, "But they're been rebelling for years. We always beat them."

"Yeah, well, now _they're _beating _us_."

"_How?_"

"They found this weird substance of something. . . no one really knows what it is, but it's a liquid, and so far it's killed off all Irkens living on Meekrob. . ."

"Damn," Tak whispers.

"Yeah, but," Joon smiles cheerfully, "you aren't in the military. You don't have to worry."

"Lucky me."

"Joon!" Zim barks.

Joon looks down, seeming slightly amused.

"Yeah?"

"Where are the Tallest _now?_"

Tak smacks her head in disgust, as Joon replies, staring at Zim in disbelief, "Are you _stupid?_ They're _busy_, Zim. They're kinda dealing with a _lot_ of shit right-"

"Yes, yes," Zim interrupts, waving his hand as if to dismiss Joon's words, "I already know that. _Where are they?_"

Joon points down the hallway miserably, and Zim is gone in a second.

Tak throws her arms up in defeat, mutters, "See ya later, Joon," and chases after her husband.

"Zim, you moron!" Tak hisses, once she catches up to him. She takes hold of his arm, "What're you thinking?"

Paying no attention to her, Zim murmurs, "How could they have a war and not _inform_ me?" and he pushes against a door.

"Zim," Tak says, "don't you _dare_ go in there-"

Too late. The door's already wide open. Inside, it's dimly lit, and tall figures are surrounding a round table.

"What the crap!" one of the figures booms. "Who let _Zim_ in here!"

**End of Chapter Three. . .**

Okay, next chapter is 'The Truth about the Lie'. . . this one is da turning point. . . I think. . .or maybe it's chapter 5. . .oh whatever. . .expect to read about:

-a shoebox

-a cherry slurpy

-. . . uh. . . Zim. . .

Okay, listen, if you like this story, can you please review? It really does effect how long it takes to get each chapter out. Seriously.

Or you can go to Pinkys1985. deviantart. com , cause I'm posting each chapter there, with a pic to go along with. The only downside to that is that it doesn't allow me to use italics, so you won't get to see which words are stressed and all, which sets the mood of the dialouge, which is important. Also, I am a chapter behind on that site, so. . . and if you read it on DA, and don't have an account, just. . . can you come back here and like. . . I dunno. . . review. . .? Oh whatever. . .

Links:

Chapter 1: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 35689828/

Chapter 2: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 35828037/


	4. The truth about the lie

**A.N. **Thanks to **Missy Lynne** (haha, of _course_ Zim is jealous),**Rahh Gumba Foo**, **rarofdoom**, **InvaderCorren** (but the Tallest are my friends! I'd never kill them off!. . .maybe just. . .torment them. . . and stuff. . .), and **MasterFruitCake** (I fully respect your decision in holding your favorite stuffed animal in your posession at the good age of seventeen. May I ask what animal it is?) for reviewing.

Just so you know, I wrote the very awesome song in this chapter, even though it's only one verse. Cause I'm just cool like that. Yay for me.

****

**Chapter four- The truth about the lie**

Zim bows and says respectfully, "Greeting my Tallest. It is good to see you."

Tak's pulling on his arm, gesturing for him to leave, but he just ignores her.

Tallest Red stares blankly at the two for a moment, then says, "Get out Zim."

"But-"

"_Come on_," Tak hisses, tightening her hold on him, but Zim frees his arm from her grasp, and takes a step toward the other tall figures.

"My Tallest," he says, "I understand we're now at war with-"

"We're in the middle of something," Tallest Purple snaps, "and I don't know who was stupid enough to let you in here, but whoever they are, we should blow them up!"

"Yeah!" says Tallest Red. "At least _that_ might relieve some of our stress!"

Then, before Zim can even respond, the Tallest, along with the other figures surrounding the table, point to the door.

"Out," they all say.

Tak then drags Zim from the room, hastily shutting the door behind her. Once safely outside, she grabs his neck tightly.

"Are you _insane!_" she shouts.

Zim just kicks her shin in order to break free. It works, but unfortunately, Tak kicks him back.

"Damn it, Zim!" she says. "Don't do that!"

Zim ignores her, yet again (although he's still rubbing his leg in pain), and stares at the door he had just been in.

"They dare deny _Zim_?" he ponders aloud. "How could they, after all I've done for them?"

"They _deny_ you," Tak growls, "because they don't _like_ you."

"Nonsense, foolish Tak! The Tallest adore me!"

Tak sighs in disgust, and then Joon approaches them, looking a bit amused.

"That was a _really_ quick visit," he says. "What'd they say to you?"

"Oh, they just told Zim to get lost-"

"Silence!" Zim shouts, and at that moment, the door slides open.

Before any emerging figures can even be seen, various voices from inside the room can be heard.

". . .we don't even know what this liquid _is_, how are we supposed to find a way to resist it. . .?"

". . .do you want the rest of my cherry slurpy, it's making me sick. . ."

"Hey, maybe the liquid's a slurpy!"

". . .idiot. . .slurpys don't burn our skins. . ."

". . .the worst part is, no one's willing to guard the base on Meekrob, they're all afraid of _dying_, the wimps. . ."

"If only we could get someone _desperate_ enough," Tallest Red is saying. He and the others all begin to exit the room, and they walk past Zim, Tak and Joon without so much as a glance.

Tak glares at Zim, but he, of course, pays it no mind, and follows after his leaders rather quickly.

"My Tallest," he says, "could you-"

"Crap!" Red shouts. "What are you still doing here?"

All of Tallest Red's companions pause in their conversations and glance down at Zim, who isn't fazed by the sudden attention.

"I was just wondering," he says, "why you haven't informed me of this Meekrob war yet. As you know, I could provide excellent assistance in combat, and-"

"Why would we _inform_ you?" Tallest Red interrupts, seeming highly irritated.

Zim appears taken aback, then says, as though confounded by the question, "Because. . .I'm an _invader_. Surely you would seek the aid of such a highly ranked solider in such troubled times!"

Red clenches his fist in frustration, and taps it sharply against his forehead. He looks to Tallest Purple, who nods slightly, then back down to Zim.

"Listen. . ." he says slowly, baring his teeth, as though he's trying very hard to conceal his agitation, "do you want the truth?"

"The truth?" Zim asks, confused. "About what?"

"About your mission. . .and it's no joke, I'm not _lying_ or anything, this is actually _serious_."

"What is?"

"What I'm about to tell you."

"What are you about to tell me?"

"Do you wanna know?"

"Wanna know what?"

"Shut up!" Red snaps, no longer baring his teeth, and Zim actually recoils in surprise. "You're not an invader, Zim. Your mission's not real. We've been lying to you this whole time."

* * *

_The whole world's falling down,_

_I guess I'll miss the insanity,_

_how stupid to think it would last forever,_

_now it's an unlocked security._

_Lalalala, we all fall,_

_Lalalala, time to go away now._

Dib jabs the "stop" button on the cd-player, and looks to Kacer, who nods solemnly.

Dib clears his throat and says as seriously as he can, "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of. . .uh. . .Kacer's stuffed bunny. . ."

"Pop-pop Bunny," Kacer whispers.

"Pop-pop Bunny," Dib echoes. "Right. . .uh. . . he was a beloved stuffed bunny, and I, personally, uh. . . would've liked to have known him. . ."

He trails off awkwardly, and Kacer is smiling through her tears. Pin pats her leg and says comfortingly, "He was a nice bunny. . ."

"Yeah," Clox says, "S-sorry. . . um. . .I'm sorry, uh, sorry I k-killed it!"

"Thank you," Kacer whispers. She pats Clox and Pin on the head softly.

"Okay," Dib says, deadpan, "let's bury it."

He lifts the closed shoe-box (labeled "R.I.P. Pop-pop Bunny") and places it in the (rather crudely dug) hole in the ground.

All the funeral participants sprinkle a handful of dirt over the cardboard coffin, and then Kacer says softly, "I'd like to be alone if you don't mind. . ."

Dib nods, and begins to lead Pin and Clox away, and on the way back to the house, he says to himself, "I hope she realizes she can just _sew the bunny up. . ._"

And Kacer, who just so happened to have heard him, shrieks, "Oh my god, there's still hope!" and tears the shoe-box from the ground.

Dib is caught between laughing and being utterly weirded out, but he doesn't say anything to her.

"Hey," he says to the kids, "do you guys wanna make waffles?"

"Yeah!"

"You bet."

* * *

_Zim took the plasma gun from his daughter's arms._

_"You built this?" he asked, impressed._

_Pin nodded shyly._

_"Yeah," she said softly, "um, mommy taught me the basic structure of it and everythin' but. . .um. . .I added some stuff. . .and uh, it's a present for you!"_

_"Excellent!" Zim exclaimed, smiling. "I shall use it at once!" He shook the plasma gun in the air triumphantly, then muttered to himself, "I wonder if Dib is home. . . "_

_He lowered the gun for a moment to admire it, and when he did, Pin moved forward and hugged his leg._

_"I love you Daddy," she said, looking up and smiling, "and I don't think you're an insensitive defective at all, no matter _what_ Mommy says!"_

_Zim patted her on the head, and said to her, although looking to Tak with a threatening smile, "Oh, did Mommy say that?"_

_Tak giggled nervously, and tried her best to slink away into the background, but Zim was able to kick her with his free leg just in time. She returned his attack with a smack to the head, and Pin just sat there, laughing._

* * *

Tak thinks it was pure luck, but she's dead thankful for it. The moment Tallest Red informed Zim the truth about his mission didn't even get a chance to react. Because a second later, a rather short messenger drone approached the Tallest. 

"My Tallest," he had said, "we _really_ could use some guards at the base right now!"

"Just, uh. . ." Purple started, seeming frustrated, "force some of the combat drones to do it!"

At that moment, Zim began to wave his arm around vigorously.

"Zim," Red said, "_go away_."

"I could guard!" Zim said eagerly. "I can be _good_ at guarding!"

For the first time since she had seen him, Tak noticed her leader's expression relax. He appeared to be pondering something, and then he pointed to her husband and said, "Okay.You-" he then pointed to Tak, "and your mate. You two guard the base. You know where Meekrob is, right?"

Zim nodded energetically, and then Tallest Red said dramatically, "You are to go at once!. . .Now!"

So now, here they are, on their way to Meekrob in the voot cruiser. Neither of them have spoken for nearly an hour, and Tak's almost afraid to. Zim didn't react to the news of his mission, but Tak wondered if he was _really_ so thick he wouldn't believe it, or if maybe he was distracting himself by volunteering to guard.

So maybe he doesn't want to think about it yet. But now Tak doesn't know what to say; in the back of her mind, she wonders if she should hug him. But that is the one thing they _rarely_ do. So he would wonder _why_ she was doing it, and she'd have to explain that it's because he found out about his mission, and then he'll _have_ to think about it. . .

Tak groans in frustration, which causes Zim to glance at her, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Um," Tak says, unsure of how to answer, "I just. . .hit my knee. . ."

Zim reaches over, and taps her knee lightly, then goes back to piloting. Expressionless.

"Zim. . ."

"It should take three more hours to get there. If you're tired, you should sleep now."

"Are _you_ tired?"

"I dunno. . ."

Tak reaches over and taps the autopilot button.

"Me neither," she says. She feels sick. "You're okay, right?"

"WAIT! I JUST REMEMBERED! Zim _IS_ tired!" Zim suddenly proclaims grandly, his finger pointing in the air. Then he faces away from Tak, says, "G'night," and begins to snore rather unconvincingly.

Tak sighs in defeat, and stares out the window.

"Good night, Zim," she mutters.

**End of Chapter Four. . .**

Next chappy is 'Cornchips'! Great name, eh? 'Twill include:

- a flashback with Clox

- a thickening plot (gasp!)

- Zim and Tak have a sweetlittle talk moment thingy-ma-jiggy

Okay, I was wrong about this chapter.The _next_ chapter is where the turn-of-events take place.

Random crap: I really like those Chef Boyardee microwave micro ravolis. . . they're so dee-lishous. . . and yummy. . . I wanna eat dem now. . .

Once again, reviews affect how long the chapters come out (and they're already typed, soo. . .) Meh heh heh. . .

Link to chapter 3: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 35955271/


	5. Cornchips

**A.N.** Thanks to **InvaderCorren** (tis denial), **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie** (haha, that poor plushy), **monkeygodkiller**, **ROFLtowel** (and **rarofdoom**) (lol, were you close to this bug?), and **Missy Lynne** (I think pretty much everyone's figured it out at this point, but I'm still not saying anything). Cause you people reviewed. I wuv oo, my little darlings! And. . . crap. . .

**Chapter five- Cornchips**

"I miss Mommy," Pin says. She's lying upside down on the couch in Kacer's living room.

Kacer looks up from her sewing job (she's repairing Pop-pop Bunny) and says kindly, "You'll see her soon."

"Hm." Pin looks to her brother, who's been staring out the window since he woke up. "Do you miss Mommy, Clox?"

"The sky's falling," is all he says.

Kacer leans forward, confused, glances out the window, then says, leaning back, "That's only rain."

Clox stands up and says, "I-I'm bored."

"Go watch TV."

"I _hate_ TV!" Clox yells, stomping his foot.

"Then go cook something."

"A-all you food is smelly."

"Go annoy Pin."

"Okay!"

Pin falls off the couch in disbelief.

"Kacer!" she says in a whiny voice. "You're _meeean!_"

Kacer grins sheepishly, and shrugs.

"Sorry. . ." she says meekly.

In the next moment, the front door swings open, revealing a rather miserable Dib.

"It's been raining all morning," he says, closing his umbrella.

As Pin rushes over to hug his leg, Kacera sks, "Were you planning to be outside all day?"

"Nah," Dib says. He shakes Pin off his leg nonchalantly. "It's just harder to transmit messages in the rain, you only send static."

"What kind of messages do you _need_ to send?" Kacer begins to ask, but is interrupted by a sudden outburst, curtesy of Clox.

"I WANNA GO TO THE PARK!"

Everyone else jumps, and then turn to Clox, who looks hysterical, but only for a second. Then he clears his throat, and bows his head humbly.

"But it's _raining_ out," Kacer says. "We can't take you."

"But uh," Clox says, "w-what about, uh. . .what about jackets? We can-can wear jackets!"

Kacer looks to Dib for a second, then shrugs.

"Well, my aunt might have some of my cousin's old jackets," she says, "they might fit you and your sister."

She makes her way over to the coat closet, rummages through it for a few minutes, then emerges holding two miniature jackets.

"Score!"

* * *

"There's practically no one here," Tak says, to nobody in particular.

"Most of the troops are still on their way, probably," Zim mutters in response.

Looking around the base, it's not as though it's completely barren; there are about a few hundred soliders out in the open, performing various tasks and all, but compared to the full size of the Irken military, the place is dead.

"Yo!" shouts an unfamiliar voice.

Zim and Tak turn around sharply, and standing before them is a rather short male Irken.

"Hey," he says, "you two are the new guards, right?" When they nod, he continues, "I'm Jilly. Follow me."

He leads them to stairs that descend from an unstable-looking tower.

"This is your port," Jilly explains, "there's a computer up there so you can contact the other port," he points to another tower some two hundred yards away,"if anything goes wrong. Now, the Meekrob's base/dam thingy's only three miles away, and there's a possibility they'll release some of that burning liquid on us, so _if_ that happens, alert the base, and the rest of us'll escape."

"But what'll happen to us?" Zim asks, alarmed.

"Oh, you'll probably die."

"_Ewuh_!"

"You're not _serious_?" Tak asks.

"Yeah," Jilly says with a sigh, "yeah, I am."

"But why couldn't _we _escape?"

"SILENCE!" Jilly shouts, his left eye bulging out. Then he goes back to normal and says calmly, "I suggest you two take shifts, cause you're gonna be doing this as long as necessary. Or until you die."

"Thanks."

Jilly just salutes in return, says, "Good luck," and exits.

Zim and Tak exchange a quick glance, then Zim points to the tower and says, "I'll take the first shift."

"I can _join_ you."

Zim just shakes his head, and runs up the stairs hastily.

"You'd be too much of a distraction!" he calls down. "We can switch up in a few hours!"

Tak stares after him for a moment, then punches the wall, leaving a small dent. And then she growls under her breath, rather resentfully, "_Males_."

* * *

"Are you _sure_ you want ice cream when it's so _wet_ out?" Kacer asks.

Pin nods eagerly.

"Yup!" she says. "I want sprinkles!"

Kacer sighs and turns to Clox, "What about you, honey? You want sprinkles?"

"I do not want your vile Earth food!" Clox proclaims, resembling Zim so closely, it gives Dib chills.

"How come, Clox?" Pin asks. "You eat Earth ice cream all the time!"

Clox looks to Kacer, a little embaressed, and says meekly, "I'll have, uh, chocolate-chocolate sp-sprinkles on mine. . ."

Kacer holds in a smile, then turns to the ice cream vender and asks for four cones.

When she gets their orders, she hands a cone to Clox and Pin, and the two run off near the monkey bars, excitedly.

"Don't slip!" she calls after them, handing Dib a cone. "The playset's all wet!"

She and Dib take a seat on a dry bench (a hovering branch protected it from getting rained on), and Kacer says, watching after them, "They're cute."

"Yeah," Dib says, "and just think- one day they'll grow to be heartless invaders, _just_ like their dad!"

Kacer makes a face and says, "You don't know that. They're good kids."

"They're good kids _now_. When they get older, they're probably just gonna enter the military and try to conquer defenseless planets-"

"What makes you say that?"

"The Irken race is strongly focused on its military and invading alien territory to strengthen their empire, I've been researching this since I was _eleven_. And besides, the Meekrob said-"

"The _Meekrob_?" Kacer echoes. "Who the heck are the 'Meekrob'?"

"No one, no one," Dib mutters.

There's a brief silence, then Kacer says, "What about Tak?"

"What about her?"

"You don't seem to think negatively about _her_, and she's Irken. Not to mention, married to your worst _enemy_-"

"Well, that's different, she's my friend."

"And they-" Kacer points to Pin and Clox, still on the monkey bars, "are _mine_."

At that moment, a cry can be heard from the playset.

"Hey Kacer," Dib says, "your friend's in trouble."

"Oh, shut up."

She walks from the bench to the kids, and Clox is curled up on the ground, shaking.

"What's the matter? Did he fall?"

"No," Pin says, "he took off his hood."

"What?"

Kacer gently lifts Clox from the ground, and smoke is coming from his scalp as though he is burning.

"He forgot to wear paste," Pin explains, "and he got rained on."

"I don't quite-"

"Water burns Irken skin," Dib says, approaching the playset, "so they use paste to protect themselves."

"That's _gross_."

"Kacer," Clox whispers softly. Tears are streaming from his eyes, "There's paste. . .uh, there's p-p-paste at my house. . .we-we go get it please. . ."

Kacer nods, pulls Clox's hood over his head, then holds the young child inside her jacket.

"Alright, we'll be there soon. Don't worry."

* * *

_Pin had to stand on her tiptoes, and even then she could hardly see him. She tugged at the hem of her mother's clothes and said, "Can I look?"_

_Tak smiled, and bent down so she was eye level with her daughter. She held out her arms, and in them was a sleeping newborn smeet._

_Pin's eyes began to water._

_"He's _dead_!" she cried._

_Tak pulled back slightly in alarm, and said, "No! Sweetie, he's _asleep_! Not dead. . ."_

_"Who's dead!" Zim shouted, rushing into the room in a panic._

_Pin was sobbing now, apparently choosing to ignore her mother's words and pointed to the smeet._

_"M-m-my only brother! He's dead!"_

_Zim looked in horror to his wife's arms, and began to sob as well._

_"Figures, when we finally have a _boy_-"_

_"You idiots, he's not-"_

_"Who's dead!" This came from Gir, who entered the room with Mimi and Minimoose._

_"No one-" Tak began, but was cut off by Zim, who shouted, "My only son!"_

_Everyone but Tak was crying now, whereas Tak looked highly agitated._

_"Everyone, _stop_ crying!" she shouted, red in the face. "No one is dead, he's-"_

Hiccup.

_Everyone froze. Minimoose made a single squeak, but then there was a silence. . .and then. . ._

Hiccup.

_They all turned to the smeet in Tak's arms. His eyes were wide open, shining a dark, dark res. He blinked once. And he hiccuped._

_Everyone cried out in jubilance._

_"He's alive!"_

_"Geez Tak," Zim said, taking his son from her, "why didn't you tell us?"_

_"You jackass-"_

_"Silence!" Zim held up the small Irken for all to see and said, "State your name, son of Zim!"_

_His son surveyed the room, then smiled, revealing two sharp stubs. He reached to his mother and tugged her antenna, then hugged it as best he could._

_"'M Clox!"he said._

* * *

"It's my turn," Tak says, as she enters the watch tower.

Zim jumps. Before this, he had been dozing off a bit. He doesn't say anything now.

Tak thrusts a bag of cornchips at him, and he catches it.

"The cafeteria here is enormous," she says, "you like those things, right?"

Zim nods, takes a bite from one of the cornchips, then grimaces and throws it aside.

"Clox's are better," he says.

"Of course they are," Tak says. She's staring out of the tower. She sighs, and then realizes Zim isn't leaving the port yet. "Wonder what that bruning liquid stuff is. Wouldn't it be funny if it was _water_?"

Zim looks up, and it registers to him that he should probably make an effort to talk.

"Yes," he says, "but where would they get it from?"

Tak shrugs, not even looking back at him.

"And how would they even know it affects us. . .?" she whispers. She sighs again, and falls silent.

After a few minutes, Zim says, "You know, I bathed in paste this morning."

Tak's caught off-guard and she laughs.

"_Why_?" she asks. "We're no where near water."

Zim shrugs and grins weakly.

"It's a habit," he says.

After a few moments, Tak's laughter trails off, and another silence falls. Both of them feel a little sick, but neither say so.

"Tak, are you still upset you're not in the Irken elite?"

"Way to strike a nerve, Zim." But then she looks to him for the first time since she entered the tower, and then her tone softens. "A little. . .but, I'll get another chance. . .the second Clox turns eighteen, I'm taking my test."

"You told me one time. . . about. . .you know. . .only I didn't believe you then. . ."

It takes Tak a second to realize he's talking about his false mission, and her insides jump anxiously. She turns away.

"Yeah," she says, "I know."

"I feel really stupid."

". . .um. . .sorry."

From the corner of her eye, she sees Zim bury his face against his knees. She feels weird; like maybe she should ask his permission, but she doesn't, she just bends down next to him, and leans forward and hugs him.

His eyes widen in surprise at first, but then he realizes what's going on, and hugs her back.

And then, after a full minute of them frozen in that position, Tak pulls away slightly, so they're at an arm's length hug and says softly, "You should head down to the cafeteria, before it closes. They're bound to have something other then cornchips."

"Do you think I'll get another chance?"

"Well, the cafeteria'll be open in the morning too. . ."

"No! I mean. . .with. . ." he trails off, and Tak smiles.

"I'm sure you'll find something, Zim."

He smiles too, then stands up.

"I'll come back after I eat," he says, "you want anything?"

"If they have any Licky Sticks, I'll have that."

Zim salutes, and exits the tower. Tak watches after him with a satisfied grin until she sees he's made it to the bottom of the base.

By the times he's entered the cafeteria, she's already turned away, looking out across the barren terrains of Meekrob. Although it's night, the moonlight is shining rather brightly. But suddenly, for just a second, a shadow is cast across the sky.

Tak looks up in curiosity, then gasps in alarm. She turns to the computer in an alert attempt to connect to the other port; but then a blinding light flashes.

When Zim enters the tower, carrying Tak's Licky Stick, not even an hour later, she's gone.

**End of Chapter five. . .**

Ha! I fooled you all! Zim wasn't oblivious! He was just trying to distract himself! Mwaha. . . ha. . . Next chapter is 'The Bitch Slap and the Flashlight', where you will read about:

-a bitch slap

-a flashlight

-Tak's captors

Random crap: I have this nasty habit of slamming into my nightstand. It's rather painful. Poor me.

Once again, review and crap, blah blah blah. . .


	6. The Bitch Slap and the Flashlight

**A.N. **Thanks to **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie **(Oh, dat sucks. I crash into walls just cause I can't walk in a straight line), **TikTac** (Gasp! Don't hold your breath! You will die!), **monkeygodkiller** (heh heh, not exactly), **rarofdoom** (I'm sure it was a lovely bug anyway), **Invader Corren** (yes! You're my smartest reviwer! XD) (jk...You all are smart-ish), **War292004** (hehe, shank you), **Raman Noo**dle (bitch slaps are fun!), and **Rahh Gumba Foo** (XD. . . "Kacer" rhymes with "racer") for being my loverly reviwers!

Now you get to see who gets slapped. . .mwa ha ha. . .

**Chapter Six- The Bitch Slap and the Flashlight**

Clox points to Dib from under Kacer's jacket.

"He's not-not allowed in!" he says.

"Why not?" Kacer and Dib ask in unison.

"Cause," Clox says, "Daddy says never let a human in da house, on'y-on'y Kacer! Y-you can come, c-cause you're our babysitter! But Daddy doesn't l-like you Dib, so-so you can't c-come in!"

Kacer shrugs, and Pin, who had been holding Dib's hand, lets go and leads her babysitter and brother to her front door. Dib stand outside the fence, sulking. The other three make it inside, and find Gir, sitting calmly on the floor, staring at them blankly.

"Hi Gir," Pin says cheerfully, holding her arms out for a hug.

Gir just continues to stare, and then his eye twitches and he shrieks, "THERE AIN'T NO OPIUM IN THE COOKIES!" then coughs and acts like nothing happened.

"_Hiiii_ Pin," he says and he jumps on her head.

"Gir, we need paste-" Pin points to her brother, "for Clox, okay?"

"OKAY!"

Gir's eyes flash red for a short second, then go back to blue, and he races from the room.

Kacer places Clox on the couch, and he appears to be shivering.

"'M cold. . ." he whimpers.

"Are there any blankets?" Kacer asks Pin.

She just shrugs.

"Clox'll be fine," she says. "He doesn't need a blanket, just somethin' to cuddle with, I think. Right, Clox?"

He nods weakly, and Kacer looks around, then reluctantly reaches into her jacket pocket. She pulls out Pop-pop Bunny, and cautiously hands it to Clox.

"Here," she says, "use this."

Clox clutches Pop-pop Bunny tightly to his chest.

"I-I won't k-kill him this time," he whispers.

"I'm glad."

"PASTE!" Gir screams from the kitchen's archway, having returned with several bottles of glue. "WE GOTS PASTE!"

He jumps in front of Clox and begins to dump the glue on the small Irken's head.

"_So gross_," Kacer mutters under her breath.

"Gir!" Pin shouts. She throws her arms out, grinning. "Paste me!"

Gir shrieks insanely, and starts squirting glue on Pin, then kinda loses it and starts to just shake the bottle around the entire room, including on Kacer. She isn't happy.

"_Gir, why'd you have to-_"

"GIR!"

Everyone in the room jumps.

_That sounded like _Zim, Kacer thinks.

She looks to Gir, and realizes she was right; a projected screen is emitting from Gir's head, showing Zim, looking rather tense.

"Gir," he says sharply, "_listen to me, _I need you to get _Mimi_ for me _right away_. Do you understand me, Gir? _Get Mimi right away_."

"Yeah," Gir says, crossing his arms, "I'm not _stupid_."

"Get Mimi!"

"'Kay!"

Gir rushes to the side wall, and hits a random button with his fist. A tube snaps down from the ceiling, ejects Mimi, then whips back up again. Mimi blinks, and Zim says, "Mimi! I _need_ you to locate Tak for me! It's important!"

Mimi nods obediently, and gets to it.

"Did you lose her?" Kacer asks Zim, peering over Gir's head.

"I dunno," Zim says, distracted and worried. "When I came back to the watch tower, she was _gone_, no one else has seen-. . . HUMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BASE!"

Kacer jumps back and then Pin jumps on Gir's head.

"It's okay, Daddy!" she says cheerfully. "I let her in."

"Pin! Have I taught you _nothing_! Never let the _enemy_ into you own lair, unless you have a _trap_ prepared!"

"B-but. . .we had to get glue for Clox. . .it's raining here. . ."

"Well, once you get the glue, I want you all to leave _right away_." Zim narrows his eyes suspiciously. "The _Dib_ isn't in here, is he?"

"Nah, Clox made him wait outside."

"Yes! Remind me to reward him later!"

"Who, Dib?"

"No! Clox!"

"Yeah?" Clox asks from the couch.

"Um, Zim?" This came from Kacer. Zim glares at her, but falls silent, so she continues, "Just curious, but how exactly did you _lose_ Tak on your _honeymoon_?"

"I know not of any _moons_ of _honey_ of which you speak, Kacer," Zim says, "but assuming you meant our anniversery trip, that has come to an end. You see, we are now guarding an Irken base on _Meekrob_, and-"

"Meekrob?"

"Yes. . ." Zim says flatly. Then he raise his fist- "_We are at war!_"-and shakes it in the air, but lowers it after only a second.

"Master," Gir says, "Mimi says she can't find Tak at all. . ."

"Is this true?" Zim asks Mimi, and she nods solemnly. For the slightest second, he's looking to the ground, almost like he's about to cry, but then he raise his fist again and shouts, "I bet those filthy _Meekrob_ captured her!" and cuts the transmission.

Kacer blinks, then looks down at the children. They look worried and sad.

"Mommy's dead," Clox whispers.

"No, she's _not_," Kacer says, "don't say that. . .listen, we got the glue, I think we should leave now. . ."

"No!" Pin cries. "I wanna stay here!"

Tears splash from her eyes, and Kacer looks around, then says, "But your father said-"

"I dun care! I wanna stay home, please."

Kacer looks from Pin to Clox, who's nodding in agreement. She sighs, and walks to the door.

"Okay," she says. "We'll stay here. Just let me go tell Dib he doesn't have to wait up. . ."

The children nod, and Kacer leaves.

Dib's still standing outside the fence, but he's no longer sulking. He looks amused.

"You have paste in your hair," he says.

"Yeah," Kacer says miserably, "I know."

"So where are Clox and Pin?"

"Inside. We're gonna stay here awhile," Kacer explains."Zim just called. Said Tak was captured by the Meekrob."

"But," Dib says, instantly confused, "I thought they-"

"The _Meekrob_," Kacer interrupts. She says coolly, "They friends of yours, Dib?"

"Well, I-"

Out of no where, tears begin to stream from Kacer's eyes, but she looks more angry then sad.

"Because they apparently aren't friends to the Irkens," she chokes, rubbing her tears away as best she can, but they keep coming back. "You're in. . . in correspondance with the Meekrob, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Dib says. He's not sure what else to say.

"You. . .you haven't-" Kacer hiccups."-told them anything, have you?"

"Told them what?"

"You just. . .you know alot of the Irken weaknesses. . .and so. . .knowing you, you'd wanna help anyone against them. . .so you could easily pass information, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Dib! How could you even _think_ of doing something like that!"

"Why're you so upset about this?" Dib snaps.

"Because then the Meekrob, whoever the _hell_ they are," Kacer yells, "have an adavantage, and Tak can be killed!"

"Listen, I don't want that to happen _any_more then you do, but what _you_ don't seem to get is that the Irkens are _not_ the good guys! You judge the _whole_ stupid race beacuse you happen to know _one_ single family; you think they're all cute and friendly, but they're not Kacer, and if you're too thick to-"

**_WHAP._**

Dib freezes.

Kacer is glaring, and her hand drops down to her side.

It slowly registers to Dib that she just slapped him, and he looks to her in shock.

"Go home, Dib," she says, and she runs inside.

Dib touches his cheek, and it's stinging.

"Drama Queen," he mutters, trying to brush it off in his mind. Only he feels really sick. He glances back to the house, and then he leaves.

* * *

_Clox clutched onto his sister's hand._

_"Where's. . .'m. . . M-mommy and Daddy, Pin?" he asked softly. "You said-you said dey'd be here, on'y, on'y dey're _not. . .

_It was already dark out. The fair was almost over, mostly everyone had gone home. Yet Pin couldn't see her parents anywhere._

_"I dunno, Clox," she choked. "We'll find 'em though, 'kay?"_

_Clox nodded._

_The two found themselves wandering for almost another hour, when Pin decided to rest for a few moments._

_They found a comfortable spot on a park bench, and both began to doze off._

_"Are you kids lost?"_

_It was a man they had never seen before. Pin tried her best to rub the sleep from her eyes, and she nodded._

_"We can't find Mommy and Daddy," she whispered softly._

_The man smiled. He had yellow teeth, but besides that, it was an overall nice smile._

_"I know where they are," he said._

_"You know Mommy and Daddy?" Pin asked, surprised._

_"Yeah. They're my friends," he said."I can take you to them."_

_Pin looked to her brother, who was almost asleep now. She nudged him to become alert, and then she said to the man, "Yeah, okay."_

* * *

Two large figures seize Tak by each of her arms. A light shines in her eyes again, and she hears an unfamiliar voice say, with a slight accent, "Were we successful?"

"Yeah Lard Nar," says the figure on her left, "we have ourselves a prisoner."

_Prisoner. . .?_ Tak thinks. Then her insides begin to thump. _Oh my god. . .I've been captured. . .by the _Meekrob. . .

"Yeah!" shouts an unknown voice. "_Finally_!"

"True, Shloonktapooxis," says the accented voice, "we have been waiting _quite some time_. . .but anyway. . .STATE YOUR NAME, IRKEN!"

At that moment, the shining light is shut off.

Tak blinks as her eyes adjust to the now dimly-lit room, and she looks ahead in the direction where she heard the voice. Sitting in front of her, is a rather small Vortian, holding a flashlight.

"What the hell!" Tak says. "You're not the Meekrob!"

"Whoa! That's a weird name. . ." this came from a floating cone alien, who's hovering above the Vortian.

Tak blinks and surveys the room, and it's filled with many different races, all glaring at her. But she's the only Irken.

The Vortian stands up on his chair, and it registers to Tak that this must be Lard Nar, at least according to the alien on her left who had addressed the voice earlier, and who's still gripping her arm rather tightly.

Lard Nar holds his flashlight directly in front of her face, then flickers it on for just a second.

"_State your name, Irken_," he says.

"I will," Tak replies, annoyed, "if these two morons let go of me."

The two figures holding her look to Lard Nar unsurely, but he nods, so they drop Tak.

"_Thanks_," she growls. She glances around and says, rubbing her left arm, "So, where am I?"

The flashlight flicker on and off again.

"_Your name_."

Tak sighs, exasperate.

"It's 'Tak'," she says quickly. " Where am I?"

Waving his flashlight around enthusiastically, Lard Nar exclaims, "You are aboard the _newly_ aquired ship of. . ._the Resisty!_"

"The _what_?"

"The _Resisty_," Lard Nar repeats, the proud tone of his voice faltering quite a bit. "Um. . .it's the. . ._resistance_. . .against the Irken empire!. . .yeah. . .and we captured you!"

"I see," Tak says lightly, "and _why_ did you capture me?"

"Duh!" shouts the cone alien (Shloonktapooxis) from beside Lard Nar. "Because you're _Irken_."

"But I'm not even in the _military_," Tak says, for the first time ever, feeling grateful to have that as an excuse.

"I smell a lie," Lard Nar says darkly. He looks around the room, making eye contact with several of the Resisty members. "Do you?"

Everyone lifts their heads up and sniff the air for a few moments, and some nod, others shrug, others say, "Yeah, yeah I do."

"I can't smell anything," Shloonktapooxis says gloomily, looking to the ground in regret.

"I'm not _lying_," Tak says.

"Then why were you guarding an Irkne military base?" Lard Nar demands.

"Well, my husband volunteered us," Tak explains, a bit irritated.

"So you admit to _assisting_ the Irken military!"

". . .whatever."

"Well!. . .do you know what we're going to _do_ to you, Tak?"

"Not really."

"We're going to-! Uh. . ." Lard Nar looks around unsurely, "hm. Well, you're our first prisoner. . .I've never really thought this whole thing though. . .um. . .we're going to. . .uh. . ."

"Lock her up and try to extract information from her, then transport that information to the Meekrob in return for shiny new supplies!" shouts a random voice in the crowd.

"Yeah! That sounds good! We'll go with that!" Lard Nar says with a triumphant smile. He turns to Tak. "_That's_ what we're gonna what we're gonna do!"

Tak shrugs.

"Yeah, okay," she says.

"_Soon, Irken! Soon your empire will fall!"_

Lard Nar waves his flashlight around some more, then flickers it- on and off, on and off- in Tak's face.

"Oh, cut it out with that stupid thing," she snarls, and swats it out of his hands.

He looks to the fallen flashlight in shock and dismay.

"Hey. . ." he says sadly. "That was _mean_. . ."

**End of Chapter Six. . .**

Da Resisty! Yay!. . . if there is one thing I'm proud of in this story, it's how I wrote the Resisty scenes. I shink I kept them in character. Blah blah blah. . .

Also, da flashback is a 'To be continued'. . . just because.

I actually don't have a name for Chapter seven yet. . . but, eh. . . expect:

-Zim's hunger

-Shloonktapooxis and Tak having a little heart-to-heart XD

-Gaz! Like. . . speaking more then one sentence!

Random crap: I have irregular sleeping patterns. Some nights I'll get ten hours of sleep. The next day I'll get six. Then the next, I'll get eight. Tis annoying. I'm sleepy.

Please review.


	7. Dem heart to hearts

**A.N. **XD Wow, you guys all seemed so happy that Dib got slapped. Heh heh. Thanks to **Missy Lynne**, **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie** (heh heh, glad you think Kacer's cool), **Flames**, **rarofdoom**, **TikTac**, **Rahh Gumba Foo** (yes, they're pretty much oblivious. . . XD), and **Invader Corren** for dem lovely reviews.

**Chapter seven- Dem heart-to-hearts**

At this point, Zim realizes he should've taken his voot cruiser. His feet are aching, and his hip's killing him, but that's only because Tak's Licky Stick is in his pocket, and it's jabbing into his side. His stomach growls, and he's a little guilty, because he ate almost an hour ago, but he's tempted to eat the Licky Stick. But, for once, he puts someone else before himself.

"It's for Tak," he whispers, "it's for Tak."

Unfortunately, his stomach won't shut up, but he tries his best to ignore it. Zim groans a little. Even if he ignores his stomach, his _feet_ are still killing him. . .not to mention he's recieved no sleep in nearly two days. . .

He seriously could've sworn the Jilly guy at the base had said the Meekrob's base was only three miles away, but then he starts to doubt his own memory. . . Jilly could've possibly said _thirty_ miles. . . maybe even _three hundred_. . . and Zim could've just heard him wrong. Either way, there's no turning back now.

He's going to save Tak from the Meekrob, no matter how far away their base is. . . and maybe when he's finished with that, he can blow them up, just for causing him so much trouble. At least now he has something to look forward to. . . although he's not really sure where he can get any explosives from, but he'll make do. And Tak'll help, once he saves her.

_Once he saves her, once he saves her. . ._

He doesn't remember ever feeling so much _doubt_ in himself while completing a task. He's done more dangerous things without a second thought. But now. . .

He wonders if it's because there's more at risk. Or maybe the whole finding-out-his-mission-is-a-lie thing killed his confidence more then he thought.

_Grrrrowl. . ._

Zim looks to his stomach in dismay.

"Shut _up_," he hisses. But his stomach apparently doesn't like him, because it disobeys him, and keeps rumbling.

He tries to think of something other then food. . .tries to fight the temptation to eat the Licky Stick. . . besides, it's _grape_, he doesn't even _like_ that flavor. . ._think of something else_. . ._think of. . ._ Doom Canons. . . a memory from five years ago flashes through his mind . . . he had gone on a rampage with a Doom Canon in the skool cafeteria once. . ._cafeteria_. . .equals. . .food. . .

Zim groans.

Then he slams into a wall.

Wait, where did the wall come from?

Zim rubs his forehead, wincing. Then looks up, and he can't help but grin in relief. He's made it to the base. And Tak has to be in there somewhere.

* * *

"How long do I have to be in here?" Tak asks. 

Shloonktapooxis, who hasn't really grasped the fact that Tak in _not_ happy, responds cheerfully, "Probably until you die!"

"You _do _realize-" Tak tries her best to stretch her legs in the cramped cell, "that I hold absolutely _no_ valuable information for you guys, right?"

"Yeah! But Lard Nar says to _lock you up!"_

"And you're the only one qualified to me, _right_?"

"Nah! I'm the only one who wanted to!"

"Why?"

"Meh. I was bored."

Tak sighs and rests her head against the metal bars. They're cold, but at least something's supporting her head; she doesn't think she can hold it up on her own anymore. She closes her eyes and says, "What was your name again? Shinktipoxis?"

"Shloonktapooxis!"

"Can I call you Poox?"

"Shloonk."

"Fine, _Shloonk_. . .what made you join this _Resisty_?"

Shloonktapooxis looks away for a minute.

"Because you Irkens are _mean_."

"Oh, come on," Tak says, without much emotion, "we're not that bad."

Shloonk makes a face.

"You guys enslaved my family," he says.

"Well, it wasn't me personally. . .so I guess I'm sorry."

He just grunts.

"I have a family too, Shloonk. . ." Tak peers through the cage, gripping the bars. "They're all kind of insane, and I think they need me to help them keep everything in order. . ."

Shloonktapooxis glances at her, and although he's trying to conceal it, he's interested.

"Do you have any kids?" he asks casually.

"Yup," Tak says. "Two of them. Pin- she's four, and Clox is one. . .Pin's really sweet, and she's good working with technology. . .and Clox can cook _anything_. . .he's insane though."

"You don't come off as a mom."

"Well, I am. And damned proud of it."

It's at that moment that Tak realizes how strange the situation is- Here she is, a prisoner of the Resisty, her antennas crushed against the sides of a metal cage, below the ship a war is raging on between the Meekrob and the Irkens, she's constantly being told she's going to die here; and here she is, calmly discussing her children with her prison guard as if she's at Parent-teacher night.

"Anyway," she says, "once you morons realize I acn't give you any information, I'd appreciate it if you let me go. My kids need me."

Shloonktapooxis blinks, and random tears splash from his eyes.

"Wow!" he says. "You seem like a devoted mom! That's really awesome!" He sniffs, and then he grins stupidly. "But. . .I can't let you go! Sorry."

Tak snarls, tries to punch the wall, but instead, just hits her funny bone.

"Dammit! Can I at least get a bigger cage?"

"Nope!"

"I'm _serious_, this is really uncomfortable. . ."

"Sorry, _super mom!_ You're gonna have to just _deal_ with it!"

Tak blinks and looks frightened.

"What did you just call me?" she asks.

"Um. . .'super mom'. . .I forgot your name. . .no wait! It's Tok, right?"

"'Tak'."

"Oh. . .well, that's a stupid name."

"Yeah, _Shloonktapooxis_, we can't all have 'awesome' names like you. . ."

Shloonk doesn't catch the sarcasm. He just looks proud.

"Well, you better get to _sleep, Tikky-Tak!_ Cause you're gonna be here _forever!_"

"Yeah, we'll see about that. . ." she mutters.

* * *

_"I don't see them here," Pin said nervously. She peered up at the man who had led her and her down the vacant alleyway. She was beginning to not trust him._

_She could've sworn her parents telling her at one point in time to never go with strangers, unless she was well-armed anyway. _

_But now she wasn't. The only defense she had was manual power, which didn't amount to much; Clox had his fangs. . . that was about it._

_"They're here," the man said. "Just sit here and _stay still_. And whatever you do, don't make a sound, or they won't want to see you."_

_Pin and Clox blinked, but were frozen._

_"I said 'sit'," the man said, a little harshly this time. He pointed to the wall beside them._

_"I-I," Clox began with his typical stutter, "um, I dun like you."_

_"Shut _up_ and _sit.

_"Hey!" Pin said defiantly. "Dun tell my brother to shut up!"_

_The man snarled, and with the back of his hand, he smacked the small girl across the cheek, knocking her into the wall. Clox jumped up in defense of his sister, and sunk his fangs into the man's wrist. The man cried out in pain, attempted to shake Clox off off, but to no avail._

_"What the hell are you doing to my kids!"_

_Everyone froze._

_At the entrance of the alley stood Zim and Tak, both looking ready to kill._

_"I will give you _ten_ seconds," Tak growled murderously, "to drop my son, before I blow off your god damned _head

_Clox released his jaw from the man's arms, and ran straight to his mother. She held him tightly against her chest, muttering, "Are you okay. . . are you okay. . ."_

_Zim had proceeded further into the alley then Tak had. He scooped up his daughter gently, who was still still lying against the wall. She was whimpering, and she looked up to her father, and he realized her cheek was bruised. He carried her to Tak and said, "Bring them home." _

_Tak nodded, holding both her children, and turned to go._

_Zim faced the man at the end of the alley, who was clutching his wrist (which was bloody) in pain. He was hunched over, and he didn't even notice Zim until he was standing less then a foot away from him._

_At that moment, Zim removed his wig and contacts. In the darkness, his red eyes appeared to glow from the reflecting moonlight. The man looked to him in surprise, but couldn't speak._

_"You picked the wrong kids to mess with," Zim said. _

* * *

"And _then_ she just slaps me!" Dib says heatedly. "I didn't even think she was _capable_ of slapping anyone! And it just came out of _no where!"_

Gaz doesn't even glance at her brother. She just grunts, and flips a page in her magazine. Dib chugs his Poop Cola down in nothing flat, then sits on the couch beside her.

"And anyway," Dib continues, "I really don't see what the big deal is. . . so I formed an alliance with an alien race _opposing_ the Irkens, so _what_? I mean, even though I gave the Meekrob an advantage and all, it won't effect Zim and his family or anything. . ."

Gaz peers at him, with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't you _want _it to?" she asks.

"Well, _yeah_. . .well, I want it to effect Zim anyway. . .but Kacer _doesn't_, see? That's why she got so upset. . .she thinks I did this to hurt her friends or something. . .but they'll be _fine_. . .and she doesn't seem to get that Zim's set on destroying Earth. . ._argh!_ This is so _annoying_!"

"Kinda like someone in this room," Gaz mutters.

But Dib doesn't hear her. He sighs, then says softly, "Thanks for listening Gaz."

"_Hehrm. . ."_

"Ya know, we never hang out anymore."

"That's because I don't like you."

"I know, but that never stopped you before."

There's a slight pause, then Gaz says, "We haven't really 'hung out' since you met Kacer. And that was six years ago."

"Do you miss it?"

"No."

Dib looks dissapointed.

But then Gaz continues, though peering out the window away from her brother, "Unfortunately, I'm _related_ to you, so we have no choice but to see each other every day. You never had any friends until Kacer, and she actually _wanted_ to see you. But apparently she doesn't now, so. . .if you ever feel a need to drag me along with you to go 'save-the-world' or something. . .I _guess_ you can bug me. Just don't expect me to be happy about it."

That's when Dib realizes that they're having a moment. It's all very strange to him, yet he falls into it quite nicely.

He grins.

"I never do," he says.

Gaz smirks, reaches to the coffe table for her _own_ Poop Cola can, and sprays it in Dib's face for old times' sake.

**End of Chapter seven. . .**

The man in the flashback is just a random pedophile guy. I do believe that flashback is the most serious-dramatic scene in the whole story. I know it just kinda ends with Zim being all like "Rar, you hurt my kids," but in my mind, he proceeds to killing the guy. . . dat's why he revealed his Irken form. . .blah blah blah. . .

Next chapter has a title, but it sucks the big one, so I gotta rename it. Anyways, next chapter you will read:

- a big reference to Pleecy (for those who remember her from meh last story. Haha.)

- Karaoke!

- Da Meekrob. . . in the flesh. . . or in the. . . glowing. . . spirit. . . whatever they are. . .

Random crap: I'm almost finished with the first draft to _this_ story's sequel, 'Torches'. It's longer then this one. And it's completely overrun with fancharacters. But still. I'm excited.

Please review. It makes me feel all like. . ."Yay. Reviews."


	8. Drowning

**A.N. **thanks to **Darkarise**, **TikTac** (Ooo, that is creepy. . . I once went to the playground, and this guy was in his jeep, just watching me the whole time, and when I ran home, he drove away), **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie** (technically, Zim would count asa mean person (or Irken), right? heh heh, oh well), **Missy Lynne**,** InvaderCorren**, **Rahh Gumba Foo** (haha, don't worry, she's not actually in it; and thanks), **miao-chan** (Shloonk rocks! XP), and **Mr. Girl** for dem lovely reviews! Much love people!

Let it be known that I wrote the song in dis chapter! Because I'm just awesome like that!

**Chapter eight- Drowning**

"Hey Shloonk. . . Shloonktapooxis, are you awake. . .?"

The small cone is out cold. Tak grins in satisfaction. She faces away from the opening of her cell, and with the aid of her spider leg, she fumbles with the lock. It takes a few minutes, but finally, the cage door swings open, and she falls backwards. She lands inches away from the sleeping Shloonktapooxis, but he doesn't stir. Holding in a deep breath, she gently lifts him and places him in the cage, then lightly pushes the door. With a soft _click_ it closes and locks.

Tak steps away as quietly as possible, then glances down the hallway. No one else is there. She turns on her holographic disguise. No longer is she disguised as a short, blue-haired teen; she's modified it so she appears as a Vortian (she would've made it so she looked like Shloonk, but considering his race has no ligaments, she imagines it would be difficult to pass herself as his kind).

Cautiously, she begins to walk away from the cage, and then, when she's made it about halfway down the hall, she hears a voice, and jumps.

". . .well, what if we baked a _really_ big pie and. . ."

". . .Fool! What good would the pie do. . .?"

Tak can't make out the first voice, but the second one is definately Lard Nar. They're coming _in_ the hallway, and Tak almost panics and hides, but then she remembers her disguise. So she freezes and stares ahead blankly until Lard Nar and his companion come into view, and then they freeze as well.

"Who are you?" Lard Nar demands.

"Um. . ." Tak begins, her mind racing. A random memory of her old roommate from Irk pauses in her brain for a second, so she blurts, "I'm Pleecy," then looks around unsurely. If she's going to steal the name, she might as well steal the personality. "Um, don't you remember me, Lard Nar?"

"Huh?" he responds brilliantly.

Although in her mind she's repulsed by the action, she jumps forward frantically and latches onto Lard Nar, pulling his face into her chest.

"_Spleenk!_" Lard Nar shouts to the other alien, although his voice is muffled, "Get this girl away from me! _Mmph!_"

Tak tightens her hold on his head, pressing him against her so roughly, he's practically suffocating. And it's no more comfortable for Tak herself, but that's in more of a moral sense.

So she pushes Lard Nar back, although her hands are firmly gripping his arms, and says as dramatically as she can, "Lard Nar! How could you! Um, after. . .after all that we've _been through!"_

"What _have _we been through?"  
"Don't you. . .uh, don't you remember that _amazing_ night we had on. . .Planet Spotch?"

"I've never _been_ to Planet Spotch."

"D-did I say _'Spotch'. . ._? I meant 'Vort'. . .um, our home planet! Don't you remember?"

Lard Nar's eyes widen in somewhat of a shock.

"I. . .I _do_!" he says. "You're that girl from the Explosive Bubbles factory, _right?_"

"Yes! Yes I am!" Tak lies, grateful for an excuse. "I came here because I couldn't stop thinking about you Lard Nar, you were just so. . . _good_. . .that night. . . I had to see you. . ."

She is strongly resisting the urge to throw up right now.

Lard Nar scratches the back of his head, blushing, but with a smile.

"Um, yeah," he says bashfully. "So were you. . ."

Tak tries her hardest to conceal her mortification, and she forces a smile. She grabs Lard Nar's hand, but can't think of anything else to say.

Luckily, Spleenk speaks.

"Ahhhh. . .should I leave you two alone?"

Without meaning to, Tak stiffens, with a quick thought of _'Oh God, no. . .'_.

Lard Nar appears to have been brought back from his bashful state into his usual mood.

"No, no Spleenk," he says, "we're here to interrogate the Irken, remember?"

Tak releases his hand and says sweetly, "_Lard Nar_, could I possibly wait for you in the controls room? I dropped off some of my belongings in there, I'd like to get them."

"Sure."

"Um, I forgot which _direction_ the room's in. . ."

"Down this hall, first room on the left."

Tak nods a thanks, then runs down the hall quickly, before Lard Nar and Spleenk discover her cage which now holds Shloonk.

The controls room is occupied by several members of the egg head race, and Tak enters with a confident smirk.

"Clear out," she says, "Lard Nar's put me in charge of piloting; we're heading in a _new_ direction."

* * *

Clox won't stop shaking. That's the only thing. Everything else in the room is completely still, completely silent. Even Gir, surprisingly enough.

They're all staring at the floor sadly. Then Kacer clears her throat. She stands up from the couch and says as cheerfully as she can, "Hey, you guys wanna watch a movie?"

Pin, Clox, Gir and Mimi all glance up at her for a moment, then they look back to the floor, shaking their heads.

"We can play a game then! Like, hide-and-seek."

They shake their heads.

"We can cook dinner."

Shake their heads.

"Rearrange the furniture?"

Shake heads.

"Karaoke?"

As everyone beside her _continues_ to shake their heads, Pin looks up in slight interest.

"I have," she begins softly, " a karaoke machine in my room."

"Great!" Kacer says with a relieved smile. "Go get it!"

Pin salutes, then runs from the room. Minutes later, she returns with a karaoke machine. Kacer helps her set it up in the front of the room, and then the two huddle over, looking through a list of possible songs.

Gir, Mimi and Clox survey them for a few moments, then Gir jumps up and rushes over.

"I wanna sing _this_ song!" he says, pointing to the list.

As he, Kacer and Pin debate over different songs, Clox looks to Mimi. Then he grabs her hand, and they join everyone. Clox jumps up to see the list. And then he points.

"_This_ one," he says.

Kacer looks to the selected song and smiles.

"Do we all agree on that one?" she asks everyone.

They all nod eagerly and so the song begins.

_To open up_

_to break the night_

_I used to dream about flying people_

_It's kinda sick_

_it's kinda funny_

_but this lie was pretty nice_

_it was fun pretending_

_Lalalala we all fall_

_Lalalala time to go away now_

Gir begins to dance in his typical fashion, and Clox starts to laugh and joins him. Pin and Kacer just sing louder.

_Sick and floating_

_everytime_

_I'll walk through life_

_without a helmet_

_only because I don't know better_

_Sick and crying _

_every lie_

_I'll run through light_

_without a blindfold_

_only because_

_only because_

Kacer hears a tap. It's not from the karaoke machine, or even Gir, Clox and Mimi dancing against the floor. It's the tapping of glass. The window.

_The whole world is falling down _

_I guess I'll miss the insanity_

_how stupid to think it would last forever_

_now it's an unlocked security_

_Lalalala we all fall_

_Lalalala time to go away now_

She leaves the song to Pin, who's so into the music, she hasn't even noticed Kacer's put her mic down.

Kacer walks to the door, the tapping continuing in a steady beat.

_Sick and floating_

_everytime_

_I'll walk through life_

_without a helmet_

_only because I don't know better_

_Sick and crying _

_every lie_

_I'll run through light_

_without a blindfold_

_only because_

_only because_

She opens the door.

It's Gaz.

"Hey," Kacer says, her stomach sinking in anxiety.

"I'm only here to protect Dib if you wanna slap him again. Either that, or I'll just watch. It might be funnier then it sounds."

"Gaz, what are you talking about?"

"Hey Kacer. . ."

This came from Dib. He emerges from behind his sister, his head hung low, but still glancing up at Kacer.

"I kinda have to tell you something," he says.

_Only becaus I'm crazy_

_only because I might just be dreaming_

_So when I wake up_

_yeah, when I wake up_

_the blindfold won't be real_

_Lalalala. . ._

* * *

_"Clox, what are you doing?"_

_His son just barely poked his head from under the bed, and then mutterd softly, "M-m-monster. . ."_

_"Where?" Zim asked, confused. _

_Clox just pointed a shaking finger toward his closet. _

_"I-i-it told me that-that it w-wouldn't eat me, if I. . .uh. . .made it a s-sammich. . . on'y-on'y, I dun know what kinda sammiches m-monsters like. . ."_

_Zim just grabbed Clox by the wrist, and pulled him out from under the bed; the second he did, Clox latched onto his head, trembling furiously._

_"I-i-i-it's gonna eat me!" he shrieked._

_Although Zim felt tempted to soothe his son's pain in a compassionate sense, he just said in a stern voice, "Clox. You are being foolish! There are no closet monsters that could make it into _my_ mighty base!"_

_And with that, he stomped over to the closet, despite Clox's hysterical protests, he proceeded to open it. . . but stopped the instant he heard a disturbingly low growl say, "Make me a sammich. . . or else. . .", and then he jumped back._

_"HOLY CRIPES OF DOOKIE!" Zim screamed. He grabbed Clox and ran towards the door, but before he could run out, it swung open and knocked him in the head. _

_"Oopsie. Sorry Daddy." It was Pin. She hovered over him, and asked, "What's wrong?"_

_"M-monster," Zim and Clox whispered in unison, "in the closet. . ."_

_Pin looked to the closet curiously, then began to walk toward it._

_"N-NO PIN!" Clox shrieked. "Y-y-you'll die!"_

_She ignored him, and opened the door. . ._

_"Mommy! What are you doing in the closet?"_

_Sure enough, Tak was hunched over in the small space, staring at her family, expressionless._

_"M-mama. . .?" Clox asked, confused. He ran over to her, and hugged her leg. "Y-you killed the monster!"_

_"She _is_ the monster, fool boy!" Zim shouted. He turned to his mate. "What in the name of Irk were you thinking. . .?"_

_Tak shrugged._

_"I was bored," she said._

_". . . you're a sick woman, you know that?"_

* * *

He's over the wall. It wasn't that difficult really. All he had to do was climb it, although he did have to activate his spider legs a few times to keep himself from slipping. At one point, he almost dropped Tak's Licky Stick, but he caught it just in time.

So he's made it, and he can't believe what he's seeing. The wall brought him to a platform, that's hanging over a dam. A shallow stream of liquid is blocking Zim off from the center platform, which he's guessing leads inside to the Meekrob's base.

"This must be that burning substance," he thinks aloud, looking to the stream. He hovers his hand inches above it, then looks ahead. "Maybe I could jump over it. . ."

Although that's not one of his more brilliant plans, Zim decides to follow through with it.

He jumps as far as he can and, shockingly enough, he makes it to the other side just fine. Then he slips backwards and falls into the stream.

"My skin!" Zim screams in a panic, splashing around madly. "Burning is my skin!"

'_Wouldn't it be funny if it was water. . .?'_ Tak's voice echoes through Zim's mind.

At the memory of those words, he instantly calms down, and that's when he realizes his skin isn't burning at all. He scoops some of the liquid up in his cupped palm, then relinquishes it back into the stream.

"Oh my Irk," he whispers in disbelief, "it _is_ water. . ."

Now holding that knowledge, he makes his way to the center platform without worries.

Zim's stomach growls though, so that concerns him just a bit, but once again, he attempts to ignore it.

There are stairs. No doors or anything, just stairs leading below the platform. So he takes them. The whole way down he keeps alert, just in case someone catches him. Yet while he's keeping alert, he finds his mind drifting. . .

He's spent the last six years on Earth; the purpose being, or what he had believe the purpose to be, was to conquer it. So he could prove himself. But the real reason he had been sent there was just so he'd be out of the way. And what did he get out of it?

Six years of stress, of failed attempts to dominate. . .a fault SIR unit, a worst enemy. . .a family. . .

When Tallest Red told him that his mission was a lie, he felt like he couldn't breathe. Like he was drowning. Just for a second.

When the war's over with, when everyone's safe. . .where will he go? He doesn't want to stay on Earth, that's pretty definate, he's still banished from Irk. . .

He has no where to go. . .

He feels really-

_grummmble. . ._

Hungry. He is quite, quite hungry.

He's reached the bottom of the stairs, and he's in a dark chamber, the only source of light being a dimly lit electric torch in the far corner of the room. He can barely make out his own hand.

His stomach growls again.

"Was that you, Primitila?"

Zim jumps and backs against the wall instinctively. He looks to a hallway on his right extending from the room.

Two of the Meekrob are making their way toward the room, a faint glow illuminating from their bodies, providing the room with just a little more light.

"I'm offended Skersha," one of the Meekrob is saying. "You know I would never project such a crude noise."

"Then what was that _sound?"_ Skersha responds.

As if on cue, Zim's stomach rumbles. The loudest it has all day, lucky him. The Meekrob pair turn to him in surprise.

"Who's there?" Primiltila calls. He nears Zim, who realizes at this point that his cover's basically blown.

Accepting that fact, he jumps out and shouts dramatically, "It is I, ZIM!"

"Gasp!" says Skersha. "An Irken! In our base!"

"'Gasp' indeed," Primitila says, although he looks rather bored as opposed to alarmed. "What do you want Irken? Don't you know that we're beneath a _dam_? The liquid above us can _kill_ you."

"Ha!" Zim says triumphantly. "Your _water_ has no affect on me! For I have a substance of my _own_ that just so happens to be water-_resistant_."

"Intruiging," responds Primitila.

"Indeed," says Skersha. "Where were you able to _develop_ this alleged substance?"

"Fool!" Zim shouts. "As if I'd _tell_ you!"

"Fine. Don't."

"It's _Earth_ paste, though. I will tell you that."

"Um, thanks."

"Earth?" Primitila asks inquisitively. He turns to Skersha. "Isn't that where the human lives? The one who informed our leader about water in the _first_ place?"

"The one with the abnormally large head?"

"Yes, that's him."

"_Dib!_" Zim growls in contempt.

The Meekrob turn to him, confused.

"Geisundheit," says Skersha.

"No Skersha," Primitila says, "I believe that's the human's name. Do you know him, Irken?"

"Silence!" Zim shouts. "I am not here to discuss _Dib_! I am here to get Tak back!"

"What is a 'Tak'. . .?"

"My _mate! _You stole her!"

"What in the name of. . .?" Primitila glances to Skersha, confounded, who just shakes his head.

"I don't know either," he murmurs.

"DON'T PLAY DUMB," Zim orders, pointing his finger toward the Meekrob.  
"We Meekrob hold no desire to reanact any behavior below the average intelligence," Primitila explains, "whether for jest of for-"

"I _mean_," Zim growls, "_don't lie_. I know Tak is in this filthy base somewhere, and if you don't give her back, I'll-"

"We are not holding this Tak of yours captive, I do not know where you recieved the notion-"

"Um, Primitila," Skersha interrupts softly, "We _are_ holding. . .er, _Tak_ as prisoner. . .um. . .on the upper platform, remember?"

Primitila looks to his companion quizzically, but then Skersha passes him a signaling glance, and he gets the gist.

"Yes! Of course!" he says. "How could I have forgotten?"

"How could I have _missed_ her?" Zim says incredulously. "I was just _up_ there!"

He runs up the stairs without hesitation, and makes it to the platform in nothing flat. His eyes frantically survey the scene; the platform is barren, except for the entrance to the stairs. The dam walls and water are surrounding it. No Tak.

But then, by the furthest corner of ther foundation, Zim sees a lever protruding from the ground, one he hadn't noticed before. Curious and hopeful, he rushes over, stoping himself just in time before he can slip off the edge.

The lever is beside three nobs. Each is labeled something, but it's in writing Zim can't interpret, unfortunately. He reaches his hand slowly toward the lever, is about to wrap his fingers around the handle. . .

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

He jumps back, nearly slipping off the edge again, but catched his balance. Floating by the entrance of the stairs are Skersha and Primitila.

"Where's Tak!" Zim demands.

"Step away from the lever!" Primitila orders, ignoring the Irken's question. "That determines how much water is released from the dam; if you push the lever carelessly, the force of water may _destroy_ the dam and-"

"WHERE IS TAK!"  
"Step away and I'll tell you!"

Zim doesn't budge.

"Irken! Did you not _hear_ me, I said-"

"Where did you put her!"

"Irken," Skersha says calmly. He's floating beside Zim now. "Try looking down there. . ."

Zim looks backward. Off the edge of the platform, there's enormous drop, running an artificial waterfall.

"Why would she be down-"

From behind, Skersha shoves Zim as hard as he can. Zim falls forward, slips off the edge, his arms flailing wildly, ready to grab anything that might save him. His hand latches onto something, a rod. It's not enough to support his weight however, and the rod is getting pulled toward him.

As he dangles from the edge of the floor, Primitila can be heard above him, yelling, "You fool! Let go of the lever! The dam's going to break-!"

Zim's fingers start to slip. The rod's gone the furthest it can. He hears the water rushing, the wall is cracking. He reaches for the Licky Stick in the last moment, and then for just a second, he feels like he's drowning.

**End of Chapter eight**

Technically, there are three cliffhangers, causethere arethree different things going on right now! So basically, you all now have three reasons to hate me. Anyways. . . I had to rewrite the flashback. It sucked at first. But I like this one, although I am led to believe that Tak must be a very horrible mother from reading it. lol, kk. . . next chapter. . . 'The Prisoner's Paste'. . .meh heh heh. . .where there'll be. . .

- the Tallest, yet again

-an overly emotional Tak

-eh. . . more water! And stuff. . .

And after that, there's chapter 10, and then the thing is _over_.

No random crap to share with anyone today. Oh wells.


	9. The Prisoner's paster

**A.N.**Thanks to **Zantor7** (come on, you think I'd actully let Zim die? XP I'm not that horrible), **Missy Lynne** (Yay! You no hate me!), **Rahh Gumba Foo** (Dib ish awesome! Heh heh), **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie** (yes, it was mean. . . but funny. meh heh heh), **and MasterFruitCake** (wow, that must've been a terrible childhood! XD actually, my brothers did the same to me; I'll listen to basically any kind of music. But my fave's techno), because they are just awesome people who leave awesome reviews! Love you guys!

****

**Chapter nine- The Prisoner's Paste**

"You're not allowed in," Kacer says, looking to the ground. "Clox said so."

"Don't give him any crap," Gaz snaps. "He just wants to apologize."

She steps aside and lets her brother fully show himself.

Kacer and Dib just stare away from each other . Gaz observes the two of them for a few moments, then once she realizes neither are going to say anything, or even slap each other, she sighs in disgust, then pushes Kacer into the doorframe and makes her way into Zim's house. Leaving the two alone.

"What do you want?" Kacer whispers.

"You know. . . I was aiding the Meekrob to _help_ hundreds of races," Dib replies, "not to hurt you."

"But you did."

"Well, what do you want me to _do_? I wasn't aiming to get Tak captured. . . I didn'teven know they would be involved in that war."

"I know. . . I wanted. . .well, I was just kinda upset. . .I wanted someone to take it out on. . ."

"Yeah. . . that's understandable. . ."

There's a slight pause, then Kacer looks up and says with a wry smile, "I guess this is what happens when you befriend a family from a hostile alien race. . ."

Dib smirks.

"Yeah," he says, "because that happens _all_ the time. . ."

The two look to one another, and then they laugh.

"We aren't _normal_, are we?" Dib asks. Kacer shakes her head, still chuckling.

When the laughter subsides, she wipes a tear from her eye and says, "Sorry I slapped you."

"It's okay. . .well, no it's not. . .well. . .it was an _impressive_ slap, but. . ."

"'I forgive you, Kacer'."

"Yeah, yeah, I forgive you."

They exchange smiles.

"You're my best friend, Dib."

"What about Tak?"

"I think she hates me."

"Haha, she hates everyone. .."

"GET _OFF _OF ME!" This came from Gaz, inside the house.

Dib and Kacer peer inside and find that Pin, Clox, Gir and Mimi have all tackled her onto the ground. They're all jumping on her, begging her to join them in karaoke.

She's finally able to shove them off, and she stands up quickly, straightens her dress, then stomps over to Dib.

"You don't need my help anymore, right?" she snaps. Dib shakes his head. "Good. I'm going home."

She stomps away and Kacer starts to laugh again.

"Guess she doesn't like kids," she says. She glances at Dib. "Come in. I don't think Clox'll protest anymore."

"Yes I will!" Clox shouts from the middle of the room.

"Oh, be quiet."

So Dib walks in.

"Karaoke, Dib," Pin says. She hands him a mic.

"Oh," he says awkwardly, "um, I can't sing." He hands the microphone back to her and she looks to the floor sadly. "But I heard _you_ when I was outside. You're a _really_ good singer."

"Really!" Pin asks excitedly. Dib nods, grinning. "I can _dance_ too! Gir taught me how!"

She points to Gir, who is smiling proudly. He nods.

"I _suuuure_ did!" he says.

"One day I'm gonna get you to sing with me, Dib," Pin says.

Without thinking much of it, Dib pats her on the head.

"Sure kid," he says, "_keep_ thinking that."

* * *

_"No offense Zim," Tak said, "but when I asked 'how was your day', I wasn't seriously looking for an exlanation. . ."_

_"But-!" Zim said. "I'm not even done telling you what that horrible Dib did to me in the cafeteria!"_

_"Zim, I have been sick _all day_. I have had nothing to do but throw up, cough and watch soap operas. You complaining about Dib does _not_ make me feel better."_

_Zim scowled._

_"Fine," he muttered. "Did Clox and Gir stay out of your way at all?"_

_"Yeah, Pin and Mimi locked them in the closet."_

_"They did _feed_ them right?"_

_"Yup." _

_Tak pulled the blanket up to her neck._

_"I'm tired," she said, "so go away."_

_"How dare you. I take the time to come in here and talk to you and you order me out!"_

_"Wow. Don't make it sound like it was such a burden. I bet _all_ day long, all you could think about was how much you wanted to see me. . ."_

_She stuck out her tongue teasingly and Zim smirked._

_"Oh yeah," he said, "because I have no other meaning in life."_

_"And don't you forget it."_

_"Yes, yes. . .where would I be without you?"  
"Probably dead," Tak said. "Either way you're screwed."_

* * *

"The Irken's _MISSING!"_ Lard Nar shrieks. The recently rescued Shloonktapooxis follows close behind as his commander swings open the door to the controls room.

Lard Nar surveys the room, only to find his usual pilots knocked out and tied up in the corner. Tak, still in her Vortian disguise, has taken over. She looks to him.

"What the hell do you want?" she snaps, momentairily forgetting she's posing as Lard Nar's long-lost one-night stand. So she covers up by adding, "Um. . .sweetie. . . "

"Pleecy," he says frantically, "the Irken prisoner has escaped, you have to- wait, why are you piloting?"

"The others said they needed a break."

"You _tied them up!_" Lard Nar says in disbelief. And then he freezes. For a long moment, he's staring in shock, then he blinks and says slowly, "Wait. . .the girl from the explosive bubbles factory. . .her name wasn't _Pleecy_. . .it was _Ploony_..."

Tak tries her best to keep a straight face.

_Oh crap_, she thinks.  
"You're the _Irken_, aren't you?" Lard Nar asks, coming out of his shock and straight into defiance.

Accepting defeat, Tak turns off her disguise. She smirks.

"You caught me," she says.

"_I certainly did!_ It's just _like_ an Irken to. . .to. . ."

"Disguise herself as the resistance commander's past love interest?"

"Exactly!. . .No, wait! No!. . .It's just like an Irken to try to overtake my ship!"

"Calm _down_. I'm not trying to 'overtake' anything," Tak says."I just need to get back to Meekrob; my husband's probably wondering where I am. I just thought coming in with your ship would make a nice entrance."

"No, it won't!" Lard Nar shouts. "Don't you _understand_! You're our prisoner! You don't get to pilot this wherever you want!"

"Well, it's kinda too late; we're already above Meekrob."

Suddenly in the distance, it sounds as though there's been an explosion. Shloonktapooxis flies over to the window, and his eyes widen in interest.

"Whoa!" he shouts. "The wall's exploding!"

"What wall?" Tak asks, joining him at the window. She gazes out, then gasps. "That's no _wall_, that's the Meekrob's dam. . ."

Below, the dam is breaking; a fluid is rushing out in huge amounts, violent waves. From bird's eye view, Tak can make out not only the Meekrob base, but the _Irken_ base, miles away. The liquid is rushing toward like a tidal wave.

In her mind, Tak thinks Zim is still guarding the base; and in a quick instant, she remembers the words of Jilly, the Irken who had given them instructions for the watch tower.

_Guards alert the base_, she thinks quickly, _but the guards are the ones who don't survive_. . .

"Zim," she whispers.

"Excuse me?" Lard Nar asks. He, too, has reached the window, but Tak just pushes him aside and rushes back to the pilot's seat. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO PILOT, YOU'RE OUR-"

"Shut up!" Tak snaps. "I'm going to save Zim, and then you can have control of your _bloody_ ship again! This won't take long. . ."

"You're not saving _anyone_. _You're_ our prisoner, _you're _going back into your cell!"

Lard Nar seizes her arm, but then she grabs his and twists it back. He falls back into the wall, and holds his arm, wincing.

"What's _wrong_ with you!" he demands, trying to maintain his balance.

"Is Zim your husband?" Shloonk asks Tak casually, ignoring Lard Nar's pain. When she nods, he continues, "And you need his help with Clox and Pin, right?"

Tak looks up from the controls.

"Yeah. . ." she says softly.

Then, before anymore conversation can be exchanged, the whole ship swerves and races toward Meekrob's surface. And then it crashes, right in front of the Irken base, right before the wave is about to hit. The ship is lodged into the ground, and it serves as a protecting shield for the base; the tidal wave crashes against and around the ship.

For the longest time it feels, the entire Resisty and Tak just freeze, listening in alerted fear to the violent rushing of the liquid. . . and then it sounds like a calming stream. . .then it sounds like raindrops. . .then it's completely silent. And everyone waits for a long, long moment. And then. . .

"It's water," Tak whispers, "I bet it's water." She turns to Lard Nar. "I need paste!"

"_What?_"

"I'm going out there; I need some paste."

"Why?"

"Does it _matter_? I just need it."

"Yes, it does matter!" Lard Nar snaps."And you're not going _anywhere_, but back to your cell-"

"To _hell_ I am."

"Here Tak." Shloonktapooxis is floating behind her, balancing a bottle of paste on his head. Tak takes the paste, then looks to Shloonk, perplexed.

"Go save Zim, super mom," he says.

She smiles gratefully.

"Thanks Shloonk."

As Tak covers herself in paste, Lard Nar looks to Shloonktapooxis, dismayed.

"You _traitor_," he says.

"Sorry Lard Nar!" Shloonk replies. "But she has a family and all, ya know! She has ta save them!"

"Irkens don't _have_ families."

"Shows how much _you_ know," Tak snaps. She turns to Shloonk, "Thank you again," bows, then exits the ship.

No more waves are approaching. There are enormous, scattered puddles however, as far as the eye can see. Tak looks back; the Resisty's ship took a pretty bad beating on the surface. Behind it however, the Irken base is in perfect condition, besides the occasional dent here and there.

Although Tak is telling herself that the base _must_ have Zim in there somewhere, she feels compelled to search away from it. She surveys the surface of Meekrob almost frantically. In the far, far distance, she can make out _something_. She doesn't know what it is, yet she finds herself running toward it as fast as she can.

In her head, all she's focused on is the sound of splashing, her running straight through the puddles to whatever's ahead of her. As she nears it, she realizes with faint anxiety that it's Zim. She trips and then falls on his body. He's not awake. He's unconcious. He won't open his eyes. . .

Tak slaps him, hard enough so it might wake him, but it doesn't work.

"You moron," she whispers, hugging his head against her chest. " You STUPID, moronic fool, just wake _up_! Wake up. . . you jackass. . . "

Before she can further speak, an odd, rumbling sound can be heard from above. Tak whips her head back and she can't believe what she's seeing.

Some short distance away, the _Massive_ is landing. She stares, still clutching Zim's body, as the Tallest themselves exit the ship. They stand, careful to avoid any of the puddles, then absorb the whole scene with interest.

"Yikes," Tallest Red says, "what happened _here_?"

They glance around, then notice Tak and approach her.

"What happened?" Red asks again.

Purple peers below him, notices the body Tak's holding, then says, "Whoa! Is that Zim?"

"Is he _dead_?" Red asks hopefully.

Tak's eyes flash.

"_No_," she hisses , "_he is _not_ dead_."

"So what _is_ he then?"

"He's knocked out, he'll be fine, he'll be-"

"My Tallest!" Joon calls from the entrance of the Massive. He runs to his leaders then says, panting slightly, "The Meekrob's base has been destroyed!"

The Tallest's antennas perk up in surprise.

"How did _that_ happen?" Purple asks.

"Well," Joon says, "we intercepted a message from the Meekrob to Earth; Apparently, a _relatively small_ Irken snuck into their base, and destroyed the dam."

"Did you get any names?" Red inquires.

Joon smiles, so obviously adoring the irony of the situation, and says, "Zim."

There's a long silence. . . and then. . .

The Tallest groan in unison.

"No _waaay_," Red whines, "not _Zim_, of all _people_. . .how are we gonna tell everyone that _he_ saved us. . .?"

"We don't have to tell _anyone_," Purple says quickly, "we can just pretend the Meekrob. . .uh, surrendered!"

"Yeah! It's not like anyone would believe us anyway. . .it's no secret he's a screw-up. . ."

"He," Tak whispers from below them, "is a hero."

"Tak!" Joon says. "I didn't notice you there!"

But she pays him no mind, and continues, placing Zim gently on the ground beside her and standing up, "He's a _hero_, and whether you decide to _address_ that fact or _not_, that's your own stupid descion. But he _did_ save us, and _yes_, he's a screw-up, and I'm not saying he deserves a huge reward or anything, but he should at least be recognized, and it'd be an insult if he wasn't. And if you two are so _stubborn and narrow-minded_ that you can't even take pride in one of your own kind, then-"

"Don't forget who you're talking to," Red says, although his tone isn't very authoritive. It's _mild_ even. Kinda soft, and it seems almost like he and Purple are actually contemplating Tak's words.

"Apologies, my Tallest," she says sincerely, bowing her head in shame, "I meant no disrespect. . ."

"Tak. . .?"

Everyone looks down.

Zim is still on the fround, but his eyes are slowly begininning to open. Tak drops to her knees beside him.

"You're okay," he says in a hoarse whisper. He slowly lifts his upper body so he's sitting up. He coughs. "You escaped the Meekrobb. . .?"

"The. . .the Meekrob never captured me, Zim."

"Who did?"

"The Resisty. . ."

"The _who_?"

"It's not important," Tak says softly. She smiles. She's trying really hard not to cry.

"Look," Zim says. He holds out his fist. In it, is a grape Licky Stick. "I saved this for you."

"You. . .you idiot," she chokes. She's still smiling, only now some tears have begun to fall. "Y-you know I hate grape. . ."

Zim stares at her incredulously, his mouth gaping open, and then Tak throws her arms around his neck, sobbing.

"I-I can get you another flavor!" Zim says, utterly freaked out.

"You idiot!" Tak sobs, tightening her hold on him. "I thought you were gonna _die_!"

Zim relaxes and strokes the back of her head gently, then reaches to her antenna and touches it lightly. . .

Of course, he hasn't noticed that his leaders and Joon are observing them in fascination, and (for the Tallest anyway) in slight disturbance. It's only when Joon whispers, "_Awww_. . ." does it register to Zim that he's being watched.

He looks up in alarm, then taps Tak in the back, to signal her to let go of him. But she doesn't.

"U-um, greetings my Tallest," he says awkwardly, a deep blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"G-greetings Zim," says Purple, with a slight twitch.

"Hey Zim," Red says, "you _are_ the one who broke the dam, right?"  
Zim pauses, thinks a moment, then says, "Um, yeah, I think so. . ."

There's another pause, and then Red says, though he's turned away from Zim now, "We're running low on trainers. . .in Irk's military training facility. . .would you be interested in. . .you know. . .working there. . .?"

As he trails off, Zim's antennas shoot up in surprise.

"Does that mean my banishment's been lifted?" he asks.

Red grimaces, then says in a strained voice, ". . ._yeeeah_. . .your. . ._reward_. . .for, you know. . ." he grinds his teeth in disgust, "_saving_ us. . ."

"Thank you my Tallest!" Zim exclaims, attempting to stand up in celebration, only Tak's still attached to him. She isn't sobbing anymore, and he pokes her. "Uh, Tak, you can get off of me now. . ."

She just lifts her head and looks at him, grinning. Then she pushes him to the ground and kisses him.

Joon continues to go about thinking, "Aw, how cute," and the Tallest are so weirded out at the sight of someone kissing Zim, that they find themselves with a bad case of the twitches. . .

**End of chapter nine. . .**

I wrote this flashback before the last chapter's, but now it just seems even more horrible that they'd lock Clox in the closet after the whole monster-sammich tramua. . . anyway. . . next chapter's the last. . . I'm kinda sad, kinda relieved. . . and anxious. I finished the rough draft to this story's sequel, and uh. . .it needs editing. . . badly. . . but I'll deal with that when I type it. Which will unfortunately be soon. . . Okay. . . next chapter. . .'Just another dot'. . . where you shall expect:

- some cheesy farewells (cheese is my specialty)

- stress chips!

- the end to this story! (sob, sob)

Random crap: Who remembers "A Chance for some Romancey"? (waves hand enthusiastically) I do, I do! Well, anyway, I'm starting a sequel to _that_. . .but here's the twist. . .it's a comic this time! No story! It should be on deviantart soon! I'm excited. Got two pages done so far! I'll post the links next chapter. . . the final chapter. . . (sniff)


	10. Just another dot

**A.N.** Thanks to **Missy Lynne**, **Rahh Gumba Foo**, **Suicidal RuBBerDuckie** and **Zantor7** for your awesome reviews!

Okay guys. . .this is it! Enjoy!

**Chapter ten- Just Another Dot**

It's only been one day since Zim and Tak returned to Earth. They had picked up their kids from Kacer's and said they'd see them tomorrow; and now all four of them, along with Gir, Mimi and Minimoose, are standing on Dib's front porch, telling them good-bye.

Dib, Kacer and even Gaz stand at the doorway, listening intently as Tak explains, "Zim got a job offer on our home planet. . .so we're kind of leaving. Just thought we'd say good-bye."

Clox, Pin and Gir all latch onto Kacer's leg and none of them say a word, and Kacer leans down and hugs them.

Clox takes a step back and says, "Um, I forgot, uh. . .forgot to g-give this back. . ." he pulls out Pop-pop Bunny.

Kacer smiles softly.

"You keep it," she says.

Clox grins, his fangs sticking out more then ever, and hugs Pop-pop Bunny to his chest.

"BYE BIG-HEAD!" Gir shrieks. He's gone from Kacer's leg to Dib's head.

"Get _off_ of me," Dib growls, but Gir ignores him, and continues to molest him.

"Bye Dib," Pin says.

"Guess you can't ever get me to sing with you, huh?"

Pin smiles.

"Nah," she says, "when I'm all old and everythin', I'll come back, 'kay? And then you'll sing."

She climbs up and kisses him on the cheek, who looks ahead in surprise, and then Zim reaches up and snatches his daughter away.

"Pin!" Zim snaps."Don't _kiss_ him, he's _toxic!_"

"No, I'm not-" at that moment, Clox jumps up and bites Dib's hand. "_NYAA_!"

"Good boy, Clox!" Zim says as his son releases Dib's hand from his jaw, giggling madly.

"Hey!" Pin says defiantly. "If Clox can _bite_ Dib, how come I can't _kiss_ him?"

"Because seeing Dib get _bitten_ is so much funnier. . . "

Tak turns from her family to Kacer and tries to tune everyone else's voices out.

"Well Kacer," she says, "you were really annoying at first. . ."

"Gee, thanks."

"Yeah, yeah. . . I _suppose_ I'll miss you. You're not so bad."

They both grin.

"No hugging, right?" Kacer asks.

"_Absolutely not."_

Kacer laughs.

"Whatever Tak. I'll miss you."

"Uh-huh."

"_Taaak_," Zim says in a whiny voice, "I wanna go. I don't think I can stand being on this planet another second."

"Okay, hold on-"

"I wanna go _now_." He's tugging on her sleeve.

"In a _minute_, Zim." She faces Kacer again and smiles quickly, "See ya," and waves, "well, not really, I guess- quit tugging Zim! We're _going_! Geez. . ." she rolls her eyes, and collects Gir and her son, calls into the house, "Bye Gaz," who's gone into the living room.

"_Whatever_," Gaz calls back.

"Bye Dib," Tak says, and she takes Pin from Zim, "C'mon guys," and She, Mimi and Minimoose all start to walk away (well, Minimoose kinda just floats).

Zim turns and begins to leave. But then he comes to a halt, and whips around sharply.

"_Dib!I" _he snaps.

"Yuh-huh?"

"Just because I'm _leaving_ doesn't mean you _win_."

Dib smirks.

"Heh. _Sure_, Zim. Tell yourself that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

"Are you trying to tell me that you think _you_ _won_?"

"Interpret it anyway you want _space boy. . ."_

"Because you haven't! I'll come back one day _just to show your enormously colossal head of meat_ that ZIM was never defeated by a dirty human thing!"

"I do _not_ have an enormously colossal head!. . .of meat!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"It's colossal _and_ big!"

"That's the same thing!"

"Ha! So you admit it!"

"What? No-!"

Tak walks up and grabs Zim by the arm.

"Mark my _words_, Dib of human!" Zim shouts, as Tak drags him away.

"Which ones?" Dib asks.

"You haven't woin! I already told you!"

"I didn't say that! Which words do I have to mark?"

"ALL OF THEM!" Zim screams, although his voice is growing fainter as Tak drags him further down the street. Dib can make out Zim shaking his fist in the distance. "Mark _all_ of my words of DOOM! Except for that one argument we had about tainted sausages. . .eh. . .you can forget that if you want. . ."

His voice trails off and then he dissapears from view.

Dib closes the door, irritated. He looks to Kacer, who's biting her lower lip.

"My best friend is gone. . ." she says sadly.

"Hey!" Dib says. "I thought _I _was your best friend."

"Yeah, but. . .you're not a girl." Kacer looks to Gaz who's playing the original GameSlave on the couch. "Hey Gaz, you wanna be friends?"

"No."

"Great! Let's go bra-shopping together!"  
"I don't _wear_ bras. . ."

Dib runs to his room, mortified.

* * *

"Your last chance to see Earth," Tak says. Her children and Gir press their faces against the window as their first home as they watch their first home gets tinier and tinier. And then it's just another dot in the sky.

Tak turns to Zim, who's piloting.

"You think we'll ever go there again?"

"Not if I can help it," Zim growls.

With a smirk, Tak says, "So I guess the whole 'I'll-come-back-to-show-Dib-he-didn't-win' crap was just an empty promise. . . " he doesn't answer, and she continues, "You've been miserable since we _left. . ._" a devilish smile slowly creeps across Tak's face. "Do you miss _Dib_?"

"I do NOT!" Zim snaps. "I just don't want him to think that _just_ because I'm moving on with my life, that I lost to him! I didn't!"

"I know," Tak says. "Because you're _moving on_. . .so forget about him. He's out of our lives. He's not gonna be sneaking around our house anymore, taking pictures and trying to expose us. . ."

"Yeah. . ." Zim looks to the controls sadly. "It was fun chasing him _out_ all those times though. . ."

"Yes, I'm sure it was." Tak pats his arm.

"We're finally going to Irk," she says happily, after a minute.

"Yup."

"And I'm happy for you, Zim. You finally found something."

Zim looks up. He smiles.

"I found something a long time ago," he says, squeezing her hand. Tak smiles warmly and he continues, pulling out a random potato chip bag from beside him, "STRESS CHIPS! They relieve 98 of your stress!" he strokes the bag fondly. "Ya know, I've been eating this stuff for years, and I _just_ noticed how _good_ they are!"

As he chomps on a stress chip, Tak clenches her fists in exasperation, then kicks Zim swiftly in the shin.

Pin and Clox whip around, laughing madly.

"_Mama's beating Daddy up! Mama's beating Daddy up. . ."_

* * *

_"Once upon a time," Zim read, holding the book right up to his eyes, "there lived. . .er, a princess named. . .Rapoozle. . .? No, wait. . .Rapunzel. . . she had long, silky hair and ate nothing but dirt to keep a slim figure. . ."_

_"This is boring," Pin said._

_"Is it really?"_

_Pin and Clox nodded._

_"T-tell us you own made-made-up story!" Clox said, jumping on the bed in excitment._

_"Um. . .I don't really _have_ my own made-up story," Zim admitted._

_"Make one up now!" Pin said. "It's easy! Just say 'Once upon a time'."_

_"Er, okay." Zim closed the book and placed it on the floor. "Once upon a time. . ." he glanced at Pin, who's pink eyes were wide in anticipation, "there was a mighty Invader named Pin. . ." Clox glared. "Who had a brother, a mighty. . .er, chef. . .named Clox. . .one day they both decided to take a ride in their father's voot cruiser and see how far they could go. . ."_

_Zim's story carried on for nearly an hour. His children had been listenting in rapt attention for awhile, but now they were tired and began to doze off._

_Zim finished his story while tucking them into bed._

_"And then when they finally made it home, Clox baked everyone a cake to celebrate. . .the end."_

_"No," Pin mumbled sleepily, her head rolling on the pillow, "you forgot ta say 'and they all lived happily ever after'. . ."_

_"And they all lived," Zim said._

_"'Happily ever after', dun forget."_

_"Fine. . .and they all lived," he pulled the blanket covers up to Pin's neck, "happily ever after."_

_Pin turned so she faced her sleeping brother, and as her own eyes began to close, she yawned and whispered, "The end. . ."_

**THE END! of Blinfolded **

It's. . . over. . . aw. . . you know what this means?

I have to start typing the sequel, 'Torches'. And the sequel blows.

Heh heh, not really. It's just very, very different from this one, needs major editing, and Clox and Pin get their own storylines (but so do Tak and Zim, so don't be too turned off), and for that reason, it is completely bombarded with fancharacters.Too many in fact.My brain hurt while writing it. And the whole thing takes place 17 years after this. Huge time gaps. I have my reasons. Anyway. . .

Thanks for sticking with me guys!

Keep a look-out for 'Torches'!

This is Pinky, signing out.

-la end


End file.
